CALGARY- Some flood victims are preparing to spend Christmas out of their homes, and that means many of them won’t even get to decorate a tree.
The Great Plains temporary camp in southeast Calgary was set up to help house Albertans whose homes were badly damaged in the June flood. According to the rules, residents aren’t allowed to plug in Christmas lights or have a stove—putting a major damper on the festive season.
“Just to make sure that there aren’t any fire hazards or that kind of thing, we’ve asked that the residents here not have a stove,” explains Tom Neufeld, a spokesperson for the Government of Alberta. “It’s temporary, we’re doing our best to make people feel at home especially moving into Christmas time. There will be a turkey supper…it’ll be a nice time.”
Since opening in October, many residents have already found other places to live.
“When it was built we estimated about 600 or 700 people would be living here,” Neufeld said, adding that only about 50 people currently live at Great Plains. “People are moving on much more quickly than we had anticipated.”
Residents pay anywhere between $600 to $1,300 per month, which includes meals in the cafeteria. The province says that covers about 25 per cent of operational costs.
Still, the temporary fix has been quite an adjustment.
“Canada Post refuses to deliver mail here. It’s been very frustrating. I’ve called several times,” complains Ian Theidel, who’s living at the camp.
Others say they simply want to return to normalcy.
“I just pray for a home a stove,” says CiJay King, who has been living at Great Plains with her grandson. “It would be unbelievable.”
The province isn’t saying how much the camp is costing to run, but plan to reassess how long it should remain open.
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