It’s only been a few days since Cumberland House residents were evacuated from their homes as part of flooding precautions, but already a few that are staying in Prince Albert are trying to find work.
The reason behind the job search is simple – money.
Susan Settee is staying with friends in Prince Albert but after being told she could be out of her home for close to five weeks, she is considering getting a part-time job.
“I’d say it’s a pretty big head-ache with packing up and traveling here and trying to find the money to support ourselves,” she says.
Settee adds she’s waiting to hear what type of spending money could be made available to evacuees.
Danielle Dussion made the trip to Prince Albert with her three children.
She says the food is fine and she’s happy to have a place to go and shower, but she’s not sure how she’ll make ends meet over the long term.
“Well the hardest thing is at home I work, so I come here and I expected to work,” she says. “At home I have a daycare, I can leave my kids all day and then to come here and not have the daycare…that’s the hardest part right now is having to worry about an income.”
Dussion is employed as a child and family service worker but she says she would happily clean the kitchen provided she can find daycare.
The University of Saskatchewan is also working with other local organizations in Saskatoon to make life easier on Cumberland House families that have been forced out of their homes.
The U of S’s division of culinary services is working with the Red Cross and Salvation Army to ensure residents staying at the Henk Ruys soccer centre in the city don’t go hungry.
George Foufas, an official with the university, says the U of S has been providing enough food for three meals a day since Monday and demand appears to be rapidly growing.
“The first meal we delivered this morning, and it was about for 200 people, and we just received a call this afternoon that the supper portion of it will be for about 400,” he says. “So, I guess that means to me that the evacuees are somewhat trickling in over the course of the day but from our perspective, I think we’ve been told to be able to accommodate for 600 people starting tomorrow.”
Roughly 2,200 people from Cumberland House and the Cumberland House Cree Nation have been evacuated and are staying in Prince Albert, Nipawin, Melfort and Saskatoon.
The evacuation was made necessary by high rains and flooding from southern Alberta last week causing the Saskatchewan Water Agency to take preemptive measures by releasing water from the Gardiner Dam on Lake Diefenbaker.
This water from the South Saskatchewan River combined with the North Saskatchewan River is creating a flooding situation, which is headed toward the Cumberland House area.