List of evacuees on Long Plain grows to 515

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This article was published 22/07/2016 (3595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two days after a tornado tore through Long Plain First Nation, evacuees from the Manitoba reserve learned the destruction is a lot worse than they thought.

Chief Dennis Meeches told the Free Press Friday night the number of evacuees is almost five times higher than originally thought; of the 2,200 residents, 515 had to leave.

The chief initially thought 150 people had to be evacuated.

The number of homes damaged is also substantially higher, Meeches said.

Some 57 homes were severely damaged and another 150 homes sustained moderate damage.

The latest numbers were disclosed at a meeting late Friday at a Winnipeg hotel where many of the evacuees are staying.

Incredibly, there were no injuries after the F-1 tornado produced wind speeds from 135 to 175 kilometres an hour through the region.

The storm knocked out power to the reserve’s water-treatment plant and residents were advised to boil water before drinking or cooking with it.

Due to the power outage, the plant’s chlorine levels may have been compromised, a notice said.

In Winnipeg, the Bear Clan and the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre teamed up to collect bottled water for Long Plain residents.

By early Friday afternoon, one local radio personality had dropped off a truckload of bottled water at the friendship centre on Robinson Street in the North End.

The centre will be open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

The water is to be delivered to the reserve Monday.

“We are going to drive out to Long Plain and help out any way we can. The first thing we’re going to do is take the water out and along with volunteers from the Bear Clan, we’ll help with anything.

“There are elders out there and families… we’ll help anyway we can,” friendship centre executive director Rick Lavallee said.

Together, the two groups expect to take six volunteers out for the day Monday.

The Dakota-Ojibwa First Nation is near Portage la Prairie, about 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

The storm hit Long Plain hardest, but there were dozens of reports of damage around southern Manitoba; an apartment block in Winnipeg had its roof torn off, some prototype airships in St. Andrews were totalled and some 50,000 Manitoba Hydro customers lost power.

All but 5,000 in and around Portage and Long Plain had power restored by Friday.

Federal government officials toured the community with Chief Meeches and councillors Thursday and arranged for emergency aid from the Canadian Red Cross.

Afterward, Meeches said it could be three to five months before homes are repaired or rebuilt.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca