Though it’s been over a year, Bragg Creek resident and store owner Laurel Frezell is concerned that members of her community are still having emotional difficulties dealing with the negative repercussions brought on by the June 2013 floods, which devastated Bragg Creek and other Southern Alberta communities.
As part of the province’s public feedback component of its Psychosocial Flood Recovery evaluation process, Alberta Health and contracted company MNP (Meyers Norris Penny) will host public feedback sessions in Calgary and Southern Alberta communities this month to gather information on which supports and services were most successful in meeting Albertans’ social and emotional needs, both immediately after the floods and in the time since.
According to Dr. Michael Trew, chief addiction and mental health officer with Alberta Health, the purpose of the province’s Psychosocial Flood Recovery Evaluation is to learn from the public what psychosocial services they accessed and found helpful, and what they thought of the timing of the services.
Trew said the public feedback sessions would give Alberta Health a sense of how they handled their psychosocial flood response and would help the province plan for future disasters.
“What do we have to learn to prepare for the next disaster?” said Trew. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
Trew said the province gave Alberta Health $50 million to spend over two years as part of the flood recovery fund for the psychosocial response to the flood.
The fund was used by Alberta Health to establish psychosocial flood recovery activities and programs in flood-affected communities, such as installing mental health professionals and establishing grief and loss programs.
“The $50 million was a considerable investment, and I think we’ve done some good things such as putting some extra supports into the mental health system,” said Trew. “Our primary focus is on people’s emotional and social functioning and helping people in communities help themselves.”
Interviewed prior to the psychosocial flood recovery public feedback sessions that the province will host this month, Frezell said she would like provincial decision makers to know that she thinks mental health services, which have been funded under a two year program since the flood, should continue to be provided to the flood affected residents in her community for the long term.
“It’s wonderful that they are helping us, but it’s a year and a half after the flood, and people are still suffering,” said Frezell. “There are people here who lost everything and are starting over again. I believe that two years is not enough support to really truly help somebody. I think it could take up to 10 years to get the community back on track.”
Frezell said there would be serious repercussions to flood-affected people in her community if mental health care will not be provided locally in the long term.
“If you think you have a mental health crisis now, what will the future fallout be (when mental health services are no longer available in Bragg Creek?)” said Frezell. “Some people aren’t going to make it at the end of all this.”
Frezell, whose house and business were damaged by the flood, has lost 30 pounds due to the stress and anxiety of keeping her business afloat and taking care of her family.
While she herself has not sought mental health care, Frezell said she hopes by sharing her story she would encourage people who need it to seek professional help.
“There are people here who want to help, and people should seek that help and not give up,” she said.
Trew said he too hopes local mental health care would be available to flood affected communities in the long term.
Trew, who was hired nine days after the flood on June 29, 2013, said the province’s decision to provide a psychosocial response early on (in the disaster recovery process) was due in part to its knowledge of other communities’ response to natural disasters.
“I suspect we have done better than anywhere else for a disaster of this magnitude,” he said. “From what I know from my experience with other disasters around the world is that this is probably the most focused response I have ever seen. I’m really pleased and proud with some of the work we did from almost the beginning to encourage people to help each other and their communities.”
Trew said the cost of evaluation is $200,000 and is to be completed by summer 2015.
In addition to Calgary and Canmore sessions, the Bragg Creek dates and locations of the Psychosocial Flood Recovery Evaluation public feedback sessions are:
• October 22 (3 – 5 pm) – Bragg Creek at the Bragg Creek Community Centre
• October 22 (6 – 8 pm) – Bragg Creek at the Bragg Creek Community Centre
Participants are asked to pre-register for the sessions by contacting Kristin Lins at 1-877-500-0795 or [email protected].
