After Spring 2011 flooding forced 1,000 Lake St Martin First Nation residents from their homes in central Manitoba, Canada, the provincial government set up 60 furnished modular homes on a former radar base near Gypsumville. According to WinnipegFreePress, nine months later only 13 families have taken up the offer, others preferring to live in hotels or stay with family elsewhere. The modular homes cost $200,000 each, and the government, not wanting to see the homes go to waste, is giving the community until Dec. 15 to decide if they want the homes. If not, they will go to other First Nation peoples. Many Lake St. Martin residents were reluctant to move into the homes for fear it would become permanent and federal assistance would end. To date, the federal government in Ottawa has spent $66 million on accommodations and living allowances for thousands of evacuees since the flood. As MHProNews has learned, almost 2,000 people from six separate reserves do not know when they can return home. As we reported here Dec. 22, 2011, some residents expressed concerns about the site being on a migratory path for garter snakes.

(Photo credit: WinnipegFreePress—Lake St. Martin modular home)