Immediate support offered to evacuees: Kinew

As 17,000 Manitobans flee for their lives with little more than the shirts on their backs, some take shelter in hotels and motels, arenas or with family and friends. Where they end up depends on what they need, Premier Wab Kinew said Friday.

“The first principle is that this is one Manitoba,” Kinew said at a wildfire briefing Friday as the threat worsened.

The province offered Emergency Social Services support for the mandatory evacuees right away rather than expecting municipalities or local authorities to support their residents for a minimum 72 hours, as guidelines dictate.

“Given the scale of the situation here, the department of families has decided to waive 72-hour period, and we’re going to help people immediately,” Kinew told the legislative assembly on Thursday.

Emergency Social Services are provided on a short-term basis “to preserve the emotional and physical well-being of evacuees and response workers in emergency situations.”

The province’s first priority is to ensure accommodations and food are provided to people fleeing a disaster. For those who don’t stay with family and friends, staff are focused on accommodations in congregate facilities where food and shelter is provided, a spokesman for the provincial government said Friday.

“Many evacuees have already been receiving support, and as people register, the province is working with the Canadian Red Cross to ensure everyone receives supports,” he said without providing numbers or details. “It’s important that people register as an evacuee if they have been told to leave their community.” They can register online or at a reception centre.

“The reception centre I was at (Thursday) had folks who were coming from the city of Flin Flon but also Pukatawagan Cree Nation,” the premier said Friday. People from First Nations would get federal support and others, including Flin Flon residents, would get provincial support, Kinew said.

“There’s just one desk where people are checking in, getting registered and getting assigned supports. When we get to who’s staying with friends and family that’s effectively self-selected.”

He said a lot evacuees are going to head to congregate shelters.

“The hotel rooms in the province are very, very hard to come by right now and that’s because of the previous evacuations, because of other folks just having their business conferences, vacations,” the premier said.

“Where we do have access to hotel rooms is being prioritized for medical patients and (those with) accessibility issues and for who staying in a cot in a congregate setting might be a challenge.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca