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WINNIPEG — Lake St. Martin residents are one step closer to returning home four years after a devastating flood destroyed their community.
On Monday, the community announced a $300-million plan to rebuild the First Nation located 225 kilometres north of Winnipeg in Manitoba’s Interlake region.
“We think it has been awfully long for them to get home, and we are pleased we are making concrete progress right on the ground by building housing for people,” Premier Greg Selinger said.
The Manitoba government is paying for 40 per cent of the project, with the federal government picking up the rest, he said.
“We have already put aside $100-million aside to pay for some of this,” Selinger said.
The first phase will see the construction of 33 new homes.
“We want to do it in a way that they don’t flood again, so they are on higher ground with new housing, new infrastructure, schools and public facilities,” Selinger said.
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Around 2,000 people from Lake St. Martin had to be evacuated during the 2011 flood. The majority are still displaced.
Elizabeth Traverse, above, lost everything in the flood. She spent a year and a half in a hotel and has since been in an apartment. She describes the experience since being relocated as, “very frustrating” and is looking forward to being back with her community and in a house.
Chief Adrian Sinclair says the new site is about five meters higher in elevation than the original community, which was plagued with flooding for 50 years.
“That’s a long time to be flooding,” Sinclair said. “This is an historic day.”
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