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As the Alberta Flood anniversary approaches, we at Red Cross are naturally focused on the work still ahead of us. That’s because we know hundreds of families are still struggling to recover.  Even now, people arrive at our offices with heartbreaking stories. Often, their financial credit is maxed out and they don’t know where else to turn. In the midst of this need, it can be tough to take time to recognize everything that’s already been accomplished during the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Flood response. But of course, that’s equally important. So today, Red Cross says a special thank you to all the staff and volunteers who work so hard to help others.

Slabs of fresh sod draw subtle lines along the High River field where Andrea Vasquez’s kids play soccer now. Just as the park shows few signs of last year’s devastating floods, Vasquez says her family also refuses to be defined by the disaster.

The Red Cross continues to provide assistance to people in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after record rainfall forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Red Cross staff and volunteers from local branches across the three countries quickly deployed resources to help. They've also received additional support from sister Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. 

Debbie Smith, Donna Doak and Sharon McDougall are Red Cross disaster response volunteers from Brockville who have been volunteering their time to help those who have been evacuated from their homes in northern Ontario due to flooding.

When 17-year-old Janie Inishinapay was forced to evacuate from her northern Ontario home in Kashechewan earlier this week because of extensive flooding, her first priority was ensuring the safety of her infant son, Rysen, who has cerebral palsy.

More than 200 Red Crossers continue their efforts to provide support to approximately 2,500 people forced to evacuate their homes in the First Nation communities of Kashechewan and Attawapiskat because of spring flooding.
 

Canadian Red Cross disaster response volunteers are providing assistance to approximately 1,500 people from the Northern Ontario community of Kashechewan which experienced severe flooding earlier this week. Evacuees are being sheltered in host communities across Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Cornwall, Greenstone and Kapuskasing.

Emergencies such as floods and house fires can happen to anyone, and in many cases, quite unexpectedly. That’s what Haley Overland and her family discovered this past winter when their home flooded as a consequence of the extended power outage caused by the ice storm that struck the Toronto area. She never imagined that this could happen to her and felt shock and disbelief.