Some Stoney Nakoda residents still in temporary housing 15 months after flood
'Everyday basic things you can do at home, we really can't do here,' says resident
Many families from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation are still living in temporary housing fifteen months after massive flooding in southern Alberta, .
Peter Asaph is one of many from the Morley reserve who has been living under restrictions since the camp opened up in January.
"There is curfews on the kids…. Everyday basic things you can do at home, we really can't do here," said Asaph. "We can't have any visitors, personal visitors, after 10 o'clock at night, even adults."
One of his main frustrations is the food.
"We all have to go to a main eating hall in the camp, so we can't just go and cook in our trailers. It's all cafeteria style. If you have someone over, they can't eat in the cafeteria with you because we've got to pay for meal tickets. You know, just your luxuries of living at home you just don't have here."
'We are still kind of on Phase 1 of trying to get people in and out of these trailers."- Morley resident Peter Asaph
Another big frustration is the lack of information, says Asaph.
"It's getting pretty frustrating because a lot of us don't know what's going on with our homes yet. There's no communication and no one to tells us if they're going to rebuild our homes. We are still going to be in these trailer parks for another six months or longer."
Three temporary camps were set up in January to accommodate several hundred people for short- and long-term stays, but Asaph said things are moving very slowly.
"There is supposed to be some short-term stays that were supposed to be here anywhere from four to eight weeks in and out, in and out, but that's not happening."
"There was about 150 of us that were really hit bad with the flood,... and we are still kind of on Phase 1 of trying to get people in and out of these trailers," he said.
"They haven't moved fast with us and I don't know what that really is. If it is government, if it is politics, I don't know. But it's taking a long time and there's not much we can do as people. I mean we can ask questions and we have been, but everyone says, you know, we don't have answers for you yet."