Flood donations pour in for Siksika

Wendi Tashlikowich

Times Contributor 

 

The Deerfoot Sportsplex in Siksika has become a safe haven for over 600 registered residents who have become victims of the flood that ripped through the community beginning on June 21. 

The flood has devastated and displaced over 1,000 residents.

“We urge family members and friends to make sure if they were affected to come and register, the support these families will need is going to be ongoing and not just immediate,” explains Romeo Crow Chief, media representative in charge of relief centre at the Sportsplex.

Crow Chief has been one of the many instrumental organizers of the Sportsplex rescue facility. All affected locations have been recorded on a master list. In order to register you must give your address, and then the procedure is quite easy.  The Alberta Animal Rescue Crew (AARC) have set up a help table and have been working 24 hours a day since the evacuations, to help, locate family pets and stranded farm animals. 

Upstairs is a nurses’ station and medic room where they have been helping people refill lost essential prescriptions, providing treatment for exhaustion, grief counselling, as well as whatever else that has been thrown their way.  

There is a fully staffed kitchen, a supply table where victims can get the essentials that are now lost to them such as diapers, clothes and shoes.  

The cots and resting areas are private and you cannot enter unless you are registered. Most of the families left their homes late Thursday or early Friday. Many have managed to find shelter with friends and family, and there are lots who have come to the shelter, but many are camping close to their lost homes, because they can’t make it to the shelter.  

“We have been sending trailers full of supplies to what we are calling the ‘North Camp’ (north of the river), but it takes two hours to get these supplies to these people because both bridges are out and we have to go through Brooks or Calgary to get them there,” says Crow Chief.  

What they are calling the North Camp (north of the river) was hit first by the floodwaters, followed shortly by the “South Camp” (south side of the river). With over 300 volunteers composed of the community members, as well as people from surrounding surrounding communities and Calgary, residents are still feeling overwhelmed by their current state of emergency.  

Residents are frustrated, scared, lost and uncertain about what the near future holds for them. They watch their houses day in and day out still under water. The water has been shut off to a lot of the residences but the power is still running through some of the submerged houses. 

The people of Siksika are a strong group, and with strong support in the community and surrounding communities, and residents hope their community family can pull through this and still remain positive.  The Bank of Montreal has set up a Siksika Nation Relief Fund, for anyone who would like to make a contribution. Donations are still pouring into the back entrance of the facility, and the contents are being sorted into the arena’s change rooms. 

Anyone with questions regarding donations and volunteering can call 403-734-5315. Donations can also be dropped off at the Deerfoot Sportsplex.