WINNIPEG – Three years after one of the worst floods in Manitoba’s history, nearly 2,000 people are still out of their homes.
“It does feel like a long time,” said Brian Anderson, who was forced from his Little Saskatchewan First Nation home during the 2011 flood. “We’re just wondering when we are all able to go back home.”
Anderson has stayed in at least five different hotels in Winnipeg since spring 2011.
“I’m just looking for a nice home,” said Anderson.
In February, the Canadian Red Cross took over control of services for evacuees from Manitoba First Nations. Before then it was the responsibility of the Manitoba Association of Native Fire Fighters.
Anderson said the Red Cross gives him a rent and food allowance of up to $1,000 a month but with a low vacancy rate in Winnipeg, he is struggling to find a place.
He has posted ads on the online classified website Kijiji and spends his spare time phoning landlords.
“I am trying to be independent and live a good life, but I am having a hard time because I don’t have that starting point to do that,” he said.
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