Karen Courchene Parisian abandoned her dog and a house full of water and headed to Winnipeg after her pump stopped working and the sandbag dike around her Peguis First Nation house was breached.
He didn’t have time to pack, and he had to leave one of his dogs, Diesel, behind. He didn’t want to get in the car, and the roads were quickly clearing.
“Will I remain homeless? It is unknown at this time,” said Kurschen Parisian. “It’s devastating. It’s a loss, isn’t it? It’s just a very difficult time.”
Hundreds of evacuees from Peguis First Nation arrived in Winnipeg after fleeing the flooded community.
Local authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order on Sunday as the river washed away roads and tested dikes.
Courchene Parisian’s house is on the main highway and quite a distance from the river, but she woke up on Saturday morning from water in the house after her pump stopped working.
WATCH People forced to leave the Peguis First Nation floods arrive in Winnipeg:
People forced to leave Peguis First Nation floods arrive in Winnipeg
Hundreds of Peguis First Nation people are staying in hotels in Winnipeg without knowing when they will see their homes again. Many arrived in the city yesterday after floods broke sandbags around homes. 1:50
With the help of the municipal flood center, the Courchene Parisian pump was repaired and sand humps built a dike around the house.
But when the wind changed, the river began to flow over the highway and into her house. The water reached the top of the stairs on the lower level.
She is currently staying at a hotel in Winnipeg with her children and grandchildren, unsure when she will be able to return home.
At the Hilton Hotel in Winnipeg, the Red Cross has set up a command center for evacuees to coordinate hotels and meals.
Karen Kurschen Parisian is one of more than 1,000 people from the Peguis First Nation who have been forced to flee their homes due to flooding. (Jeff Stapleton / CBC)
Cheryl Spence arrived in Winnipeg around midnight on Monday.
“It was pretty stressful with two trucks and our seven kids,” Spence said.
One of her children has just finished cancer treatment in the city, and because she is vulnerable to falling ill, the family cannot be evacuated by public transport.
With the help of his extended family, Spence was able to evacuate safely with his children.
This is not the first time the family has been evacuated due to flooding. Peguis First Nation dealt with major floods in 2009, 2011 and 2014. Some evacuees from previous floods are still displaced from their homes.
Chief Glenn Hudson told CBC’s Marcy Marcusa that this year’s flood was “probably one of the worst in history”.
More evacuees from Peguis are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Courchene Parisian tries to stay positive. Later Monday afternoon, her dog Diesel was rescued from the house by paramedics.
When she can come home, she will take it one day.
“As soon as I can go back to the community, I’m going to go clean up, do the best I can do there, you know?” You just have to keep going.
WATCH Floods surround homes at Peguis First Nation:
Flood waters surround homes at Peguis First Nation
Drone footage from the community shows water breaking through tiger dams at Peguis First Nation on Monday afternoon. 0:54
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