Salvation Army Responds to Alberta Floods ** Updated
Updated as of June 30, 2013
Through our flood relief efforts in Alberta, The Salvation Army is serving over 1,200 people per day with food, hydration and emotional & spiritual care.
In Medicine Hat, we continue to respond to needs as they arise with hydration, emotional and spiritual care and other basic necessities. Our shelter suffered some damage from water and the extent of this is still being assessed.
In Calgary, remediation has begun at The Centre of Hope where we sustained considerable water damage. It will take some time for the concrete cinder block to dry out.
We had anticipated that we would not be able to open the Centre of Hope again for at least two weeks, but we have received the good news that we hope to start moving residents back home early next week. We have presently set up a temporary shelter for over 60 residents at another Salvation Army facility.
We have three Community Response Units and teams in evacuated areas and roving through the areas of Calgary that was hardest hit to provide feeding, hydration and emotional and spiritual care.
In Morley, we have deployed a Community Response Unit (which had been used in Canmore) to provide feeding, hydration and emotional and spiritual care.
In High River, we continue to provide food, hydration and emotional and spiritual care in Blackie at the evacuation centre. We have three Community Response Units and teams rotating in and out of High River providing food, hydration and emotional and spiritual care to the responders who are diligently working to restore the town so that residents can return as soon as possible. We are expecting word soon as to a possible return date. Some residents of High River have been evacuated to Lethbridge and our team is on site at the evacuation centre providing food, hydration and emotional and spiritual care as people arrive.
We have still not been able to access our own properties in High River (corps, thrift store, community and family services) which we know were damaged in the flood.
Updated as of June 27, 2013
Salvation Army emergency and disaster response personnel from across the country have been deployed to work as part of the Alberta Disaster Response Team.
In Calgary, Blackie, Medicine Hat, Drumheller, and Canmore, response teams are providing various services that include crisis intervention stress management (CISM), emotional and spiritual care, food and hydration, and serving as canteen crews.
Officials in High River, the hardest hit community, say return of evacuees is still days away. The Salvation Army is providing food, hydration, emotional and spiritual care to responders who are diligently working to restore the town, so residents can return home as soon as possible. The Salvation Army has not been able to access its own church, thrift store, community and family services, which were significantly damaged by flooding.
The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope in Calgary sustained considerable water damage to its parking garage, basement food preparation area, maintenance and storage areas. Refrigeration units, along with the food, will have to be replaced. The Centre doesn’t expect to be able to open its doors for at least another week and many residents have been evacuated to another Salvation Army facility. Calgary’s Agape Hospice has reopened and residents are returning.
If you would like to donate financially to The Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts, please click here.
Updated as of June 23, 2013.
As with many buildings in Calgary, The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope was flooded and faced mandatory evacuation. All of the facility’s 400 residents have been appropriately relocated. Our Agape Hospice was also evacuated and residents successfully relocated.
At the evacuation centre in the community of Blackie to the south of Calgary, Army personnel and volunteers have been supplying meals and spiritual and emotional care to residents who were evacuated from nearby High River.
There is a growing concern in Medicine Hat, as waters have flooded the downtown area. Ten thousand people in the community have been evacuated. Salvation Army personnel are at the evacuation centre providing food, clothing and arranging accommodations. The Salvation Army shelter in Medicine Hat has been evacuated, including 18 residents and staff.
In the worst flooded area of downtown Calgary, Salvation Army personnel served 500 meals on Saturday to people who were unable to evacuate their apartments.
Once people are allowed to return to their homes, there will be a very great need for The Salvation Army to respond in a number of Alberta communities. This will involve emotional and spiritual care and feeding programs as people try to recover what is left of their possessions.
If you would like to donate financially to The Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts, please click here.
As posted on June 21, 2013.
More than a dozen towns in southern Alberta have declared a state of emergency due to powerful, high flood waters. In Calgary alone, more than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes.
Salvation Army personnel are working tirelessly to provide meals and emotional support to hundreds of evacuees in the community of Blackie. They are on standby to provide support where the need is greatest.
In addition, The Salvation Army itself has suffered significant water damage to its thrift stores in both High River and Claresholm, and its church in High River.
Meanwhile, in Calgary, The Salvation Army has evacuated and relocated 400 clients and staff at its Centre of Hope and word has just been received that the Army’s Agape Hospice is in the process of evacuation.
“The Salvation Army will be on-site for as long as needed,” says Pam Goodyear of The Salvation Army. “We are dedicated to providing additional support as required.”
At this time we are accepting monetary donations only. If you wish to support the flood relief, click here.
Note: Image is a view from the Centre of Hope
