By Sarah Klein
Since Wednesday, April 1, over 1,600 Winnipeggers have been registered by the City of Winnipeg to volunteer for flood fighting efforts. Volunteers are assisting at-risk property owners to build sandbag dikes to protect from river flooding due to potential ice jams.
Approximately 500 volunteers are providing assistance today to property owners on Kingston Crescent and will be placing about 65,000 sandbags to build dikes to the required levels. Dikes are also being constructed on Scotia Street, requiring the placement of up to 5,000 sandbags today.
These streets have been blocked off and are not accessible to the public in order to provide a safe environment for volunteers engaged in flood fighting activities.
To date, the City of Winnipeg’s 311 Contact Centre has received approximately 1,900 flood-related telephone calls and 250 flood-related emails from property owners requesting assistance and from citizens wishing to volunteer. Sixty-five property owners have requested volunteer assistance with sandbagging activities.
“Winnipeggers, true-to-form, have come out in large numbers to help property owners,” says Randy Hull, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator.
“It is extremely important for those people wanting to volunteer to call 311 to register as the City has a targeted approach to providing volunteers to locations where they have been requested by homeowners.”
Once property owners have made arrangements for sandbag delivery, they are asked to call or email 311 at 311@winnipeg.ca to request volunteer assistance if required.
Citizens wishing to assist sandbagging efforts are asked to email their name, telephone number, and times of availability to 311@winnipeg.ca or call 311 for more information on volunteer registration and deployment.
via news release
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In a related note, Chris D. was in Brandon this weekend for the Winter Fair and ran into Premier Gary Doer in the lobby of the Canad Inns. Mr. Doer was on his way back to Winnipeg and said, “I’m going from horses to flooding.”
