As floodwaters recede in Manitoba’s Interlake, some Peguis First Nation evacuees are once again cleaning up the saturated community and, in some cases, discovering devastating damage.
Cheryl Thomson was one of the first waves to return in recent days to find her property in various dilapidated condition.
“It’s very stressful, but I’m trying to stay positive,” Thomson said Tuesday, examining the damage to his home and his water-filled possessions four days after the cleanup.
Peguis, about 160 miles north of Winnipeg, declared a state of emergency and issued an evacuation order in early May, as flooding of the Fisher River devastated roads and broken dikes.
Efforts were made on Tuesday to repatriate the remaining 1,500 evacuees, assess the damage and begin cleaning up hundreds of homes affected by the floods.
Thomson is hoping everything will turn out well, but on this last return trip, with the flood waters that have already disappeared from his property, the mark they left is clear.
Thomson indicates a water line, approximately at chest height, left in a closet in the basement of his home during the flood. (Travis Golby / CBC)
Her basement and bedrooms were badly damaged, as were the oven, hot water tank and appliances.
Transporting his soaked items to his garden to dry, Thomson estimates that he lost about $ 10,000 in supplies and personal items, such as a buffalo robe, sewing machines, and ceremonial clothing that he made.
“All my ribbon skirts I had for the ceremony are all destroyed,” Thomson said. “It’s very overwhelming. Many times I had to tell my sisters that I had to get away, go get my breath back.”
Up to 700 homes damaged
Preliminary estimates by Peguis officials are that between 600 and 700 homes were damaged during the flood, including 200 that could be completely destroyed, said William Sutherland, director of emergency management and First Nation housing. .
The sign of the First Nation of Peguis on Tuesday. Just a few weeks ago the floodwaters rose to the bottom of the letters. (Travis Golby / CBC)
He said more than 860 new homes are needed depending on the damage caused by this year’s flood and previous years.
Sutherland has been Peguis First Nation’s director of emergency and housing management since 2009, although he has memories of evacuations to the 1974 flood-prone community.
That year, the army was summoned and his family was airlifted, Sutherland said.
A partial evacuation was ordered during the 2017 flood, but Sutherland says it has never seen anything close to the damage left as a result of this spring’s flood.
“It affected the whole reserve,” Peguis said Tuesday.
William Sutherland says the actual extent of the damage to homes will continue to be revealed in the coming days and weeks as they become more evacuated and allow officials inside their homes to assess the impact. (Travis Golby / CBC)
Sutherland said the northern end of the community suffered the brunt of the damage. Residents in this part of the community feel they have been left out of flood readiness considerations, Sutherland said.
“You may not have a chance to explain that we tried everything,” he said.
“But at that time, at the height of the crisis, when the water was at its maximum with the current, it was too dangerous … We could not drown our workers while carrying their staff in a truck and we have one of those trailers pulled them off the highway. “
Tuesday’s cleanup efforts involved cleaning up sandbags and quick-response flood pipes, he said.
Part of the job is now trying to get into closed homes during the mass exodus and assess which ones are safe to return, and then get those people back, Sutherland said.
A row of sandbags stretches across a series of water-damaged items on a Peguis First Nation property on Tuesday, May 25, 2022. (Travis Golby / CBC)
Depending on the extent of the damage, some homeowners may be offset by home repair costs. Other homes can be considered a total loss, although how many were ruined is still an emerging picture.
“A lot of houses have lost everything,” Sutherland said. “Those with the most extreme damage, unfortunately, will have to remain evacuated for much longer.”
This is a reality that Robert Thomas is relieved not to experience.
Robert Thomas and his father worked for about four days running bombs and building a wall of sandbags around their home in the Peguis First Nation. They came back recently to start cleaning. (Travis Golby / CBC)
His house north of Peguis was damaged but can be saved.
It took a lot of work to keep the water at bay. He and his father worked 24 hours a day for the first three or four days, the water rising around his house with sandbags.
“I am hurt by people who have lost their homes, because our last flood was unfortunate and some people moved for quite some time,” he said.
“That’s one of the reasons we didn’t want to leave our house. We didn’t want to have to wait a few years to get another house.”
Thomas pulls out a canvas to reveal bags and boxes of items full of water damaged during the floods on his property. (Travis Golby / CBC)
With the flood behind him, Thomas says he is grateful to everyone who has helped the community.
“It was very stressful,” he said.
“It simply came to our notice then [the flood] is gone. Now, it’s just the cleaning