First Nations evacuees return home to problems

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This article was published 29/10/2019 (2194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of Manitoba’s 6,000 First Nations storm evacuees are returning home to more troubles.

Residents face challenges such as damaged homes, loss of regular food supplies, vandalism, and “unhealthy living environments”, said Interlake Reserves Tribal Council spokesman R. Irwin Kehler.

Last Friday, Manitoba Hydro declared that power was back on in all communities cut off by snowstorm damage two weeks ago, and that evacuees could return home.

Large diesel generators will temporarily supply power to Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin First Nations and the community of Dauphin River, as work continued to repair power lines to the communities damaged during the storm.

This Friday, a meeting of the Assembly of First Nations vice-chief for the region, Kevin Hart, is planned with Indigenous Services Canada Minister Seamus O’Regan in Ottawa to talk about the impact of the unprecedented Oct. 11 storm, Kehler said Tuesday in an email responding to Free Press questions.

Downed power lines during the Thanksgiving weekend storm left 53,000 Manitobans without power, prompting Premier Brian Pallister to declare a state of emergency. Close to 6,000 evacuees from 13 First Nations registered with the Canadian Red Cross. The Interlake Reserves Tribal Council stepped up to help evacuees before the Canadian Red Cross was ready to offer assistance on Oct. 13, Kehler said, putting the council at “financial risk.”

The tribal council has reported hundreds of homes in four communities — Peguis, Dauphin River, Little Saskatchewan and Pinaymootang First Nation — had basements and crawl spaces flooded, making homes uninhabitable because of mould concerns.

The storm also blew shingles, doors and siding off some houses in Dauphin River First First Nation, for instance, said Kehler.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca