Bill Lawlor, Provincial Director of Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross have started flood relief efforts across the province.
Free flood clean-up kits are available at the Saint John and Fredericton reception centres, and the Maugerville community centre.
Red Cross providing registered households with FREE residential flood cleanup kits. Kits can be picked up (limit of 1/household) at the #SaintJohn and #Fredericton reception centres as well as the #Maugerville Community Centre, 439 Rte. 105, 9am-7pm. #NewBrunswick #riverwatch pic.twitter.com/Jyj9cGuGPW
— CanRedCrossNB (@canredcrossnb) April 29, 2019
The kits include a broom, a mop, sponges, gloves, masks, and other supplies that can be used to safely clean flood-damaged homes and property.
Provincial director for New Brunswick and PEI, Bill Lawlor, says flood recovery efforts can take a long time, he says, and this is just the beginning. Many are still dealing with repercussions from last year’s flood.
“Only when they have a chance to access their own damage on their property will we get a better idea of the duration of this, but again, I remind anyone at any chance I get that we’re still dealing with five families from the 2018 flood. So there’s many, many households in the last weeks and months who just returned home,” he said.
Lawlor says as of Monday morning, 1,111 evacuees were registered with the Red Cross.
“We’ll touch base with them every few days to get a sense of okay, do you know what your circumstances are? Are you able to return home? Was it that your home was actually flooded, or what it an accessibility issue?” he said.
Do not enter your home until officials say it is safe.
FREE Canadian Red Cross Guide to Flood Recovery: https://t.co/BOKxoXZ7fq#nbflood #NewBrunswick #riverwatch2019 #riverwatch pic.twitter.com/DUCs6KjGer
— CanRedCrossNB (@canredcrossnb) April 29, 2019
Of those 1,111, 486 were put up in emergency accommodations with Red Cross. The remaining found other places to stay such as with families and friends, which he says was a big change from last year.
He says the numbers are also a lot better than last year’s. At the height they had over 2500 evacuees registered. Lawlor says mitigation efforts from Saint John EMO, such as raising roads, really had an impact.
As well, he says people were more prepared this year, mainly because they had just gone through it 12 months earlier.
As things calm down, the reception centre in Saint John has now moved from the Carleton Community Centre to Red Cross Headquarters in Loch Lomond Mall.
Lawlor says the move will make it easier for them to distribute help under one roof.
“We weren’t seeing a lot of foot traffic at the Carelton Community Centre, so it made sense for us to consolidate in one location, so we have our red cross offices there, we have a separate location within Loch Lomond Place for evacuees to come and register, to access a flood clean-up kit,” he said.
Volunteers will be at the locations from 9 AM to 7 PM.
