Latest news with #evacuees
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukrainian refugee's life shattered again by Iran-Israel conflict
Tetiana Kurakova believed she had left the devastation of war behind when she fled Ukraine in 2022, escaping the gaping holes in buildings, streets choked with rubble, and the pervasive fear of airstrikes. The 40-year-old makeup artist had painstakingly rebuilt her life in the Israeli coastal city of Bat Yam, aided by friends who helped her relaunch her career. However, early on Sunday, an Iranian missile tore through the building adjacent to hers, shattering her newfound peace. The strike claimed nine lives, wounded dozens, and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes, including Kurakova's. It marked the deadliest single strike from Iran in a week-long conflict that erupted on Friday, following Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, as well as top generals and nuclear scientists. In retaliation, Iran has launched approximately 450 missiles and hundreds of drones. Days later, sheltering in a Tel Aviv hotel alongside 250 other evacuees from Bat Yam, Ms Kurakova wept as she recounted the impact of the missile. The blast "sheared the face off of a multistory apartment building and destroyed many buildings around it," leaving a landscape eerily reminiscent of the war she had sought to escape. 'It felt like a nightmare. I can't even describe how big it was,' she said. 'I had a panic attack. I just sat on the road, leaned on (my friend) Masha, and started to cry, to sob from all the misery that had happened.' Thousands of Ukrainians fled their country for Israel Kurakova is one of around 30,000 Ukrainians who have made Israel their home since Russia 's war in Ukraine began, about half of whom have gained citizenship through their Jewish heritage, according to Israel's Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. Kurakova, who does not have citizenship, left home via Poland after about a month spent hiding from constant strikes in early 2022. She ended up in Israel, where she had a number of friends and some professional contacts. Five of the victims in the Bat Yam strike were Ukrainians from the same family who had come to Israel to escape the war and receive medical treatment for a 7-year-old girl who had blood cancer, Israeli media reported. The Ukrainian Embassy in Israel would not provide details on individuals, citing privacy concerns. It said it was working to repatriate the bodies, but faced challenges because Israel's airspace is closed due to ongoing attacks. Still fearing bombs and drones Bat Yam has a large population of residents from the former Soviet Union, many of whom emigrated in a wave in the early 1990s, and was a natural place for many newly arrived Ukrainians to settle. The working-class city is centrally located but the cost of living is lower than in Tel Aviv, next door. But older buildings in such cities — and in Arab towns and rural arras — often lack adequate shelters, though anything built since 1993 is required to have reinforced safe rooms. More than a year after Kurakova arrived in Israel, Hamas attacked the country's south, igniting a war in the Gaza Strip. She recalled being frightened in the early days after the militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The fighting was just 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the south, and some nights, she could hear the booms from Gaza. But she wasn't prepared for it to hit so close to home. In the fighting between Israel and Iran, 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds injured. Missiles have struck 40 sites, including apartment buildings, offices and a hospital, according to Israeli authorities. Air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter. Meanwhile, panicked residents of Iran's capital have spent restless nights in metro stations and thousands have fled. More than 600 people, including over 200 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded, according to a Washington -based Iranian human rights group. Kurakova said the past few days have brought her right back to the early days of Russia's invasion. 'I don't even stop seeing dreams that I'm hiding somewhere, running from Shahed drones, bombs, and looking for shelter somewhere,' she said, referring to the Iranian-made drones used against both Israel and Ukraine. A choice between two conflicts In Bat Yam, the force of the blast blew out windows and damaged the walls of Kurakova's second-floor apartment. She was able to salvage a few belongings, but because of structural concerns, it isn't clear if she will be able to return home. Some 5,000 Israelis have been displaced across the country after missiles destroyed or damaged homes, according to the prime minister's office. Kurakova's mother, still living in the part of the Donetsk region of Ukraine under Russian occupation, has urged her daughter to leave Israel and move somewhere, anywhere else. Kurakova still hasn't decided what to do. 'I feel terrified inside and outside. I feel terrified by the hopelessness,' Kurakova said, adding that while she had previously taken comfort in Israel's air defense systems, now she wasn't so sure. 'That was the reason I left Ukraine," she said. "I didn't understand that it was possible here.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Rainstorms trigger severe flooding in south China
NewsFeed Rainstorms trigger severe flooding in south China Heavy rainfall in southern China has caused severe flooding and landslides, affecting over 300,000 people and forcing nearly 70,000 to evacuate their homes.
CBC
6 days ago
- General
- CBC
Cranberry Portage evacuees return home to limited food access, medical care as Flin Flon remains empty
Social Sharing Residents from Cranberry Portage began returning to the northern Manitoba community on Saturday morning, two weeks after a wildfire knocked out its power and forced locals to evacuate to Winnipeg and The Pas. But some Cranberry Portage residents say they'll be returning limited access to essential supplies or medical care as the nearby city of Flin Flon remains under a mandatory evacuation order. On Friday, the Manitoba government announced that mandatory evacuation orders were being lifted for Cranberry Portage, Sherridon, Herb Lake Landing and Snow Lake. About 1,785 evacuees — about 440 of them from Cranberry Portage — could go home at 8 a.m. on Saturday, the province said. Evacuee Peter Thibodeau said he was among the first people to return to Cranberry Portage Saturday morning, but some others are staying where they are — many in Winnipeg or The Pas — until Flin Flon reopens. "A lot of people aren't coming back until they have to go grocery shopping. There's no grocery store here and Flin Flon is still closed," he said. Flin Flon is located about 35 kilometres northwest of Cranberry Portage, and is home to the closest grocery store and hospital to the community. Locals drive about 20 minutes north on Highway 10 to get their essentials in the city. Returning Cranberry Portage evacuees will now have to drive an hour south to The Pas to access grocery stores, medical care and other essentials until it's safe to return to Flin Flon. "They're just going to have to drive a little further for those services that they require," said Lori Forbes, emergency co-ordinator for the rural municipality of Kelsey. "Flin Flon will be open eventually, sooner than later I'm assuming, but I'm going to leave that up to them to make those decisions," she said. Irvin Head, who fled Cranberry Portage with his family on May 30, said he was surprised to hear residents could return to their homes Saturday. He's been in Winnipeg for the last two weeks and plans to stay longer. "We were sort of hunkering down for maybe a month's worth of waiting around," Head said. He said he's concerned that Cranberry Portage residents can return home while Flin Flon is still under an evacuation order. He said the community relies on services in the city, especially the hospital and grocery store, which both remain closed. "That's a big lifeline," Head said. "Even if we do go back … it'll still be a little bit of a 'what do we do?'" Returning residents happy to be home but prepared to leave Forbes said all of the structures in Cranberry Portage are intact, power has been restored and municipal services are running again. She said the local dump is also open, which will likely be in heavy use as some residents return to spoiled food in their refrigerators. "I think everyone is very fortunate up in Cranberry Portage. There [was] no structural damage. So they're going home to a community that's ready to receive them, get their lawns mowed, get some gardens put in, and carry on with everyday life," Forbes said. "I'm really glad to be able to tell these residents that they can head home today," Forbes told CBC News on Saturday. Thibodeau said "it's not really sunk in yet" that he's home. He said dandelions have sprouted up across everyone's lawns since they've been gone, so he plans to mow his lawn and catch up on errands before returning to work. Thibodeau was among the Cranberry Portage residents who were forced out by a fast-moving wildfire a year ago, so he said he's staying packed in case fire forces him out again soon. "I'm going to do some laundry and keep the bag ready," he said. While some residents are happy to be home, Head said his family has decided to stay in Winnipeg for now. He said the decision to leave the Cranberry Portage in the first place was ultimately about not having enough basic services for people and not a direct fire risk. "I would rather go home, especially after how much work it took to get some sort of support here [in Winnipeg]," he said.
CBC
7 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Thompson says finding hotel rooms for evacuees 'difficult' as Manitoba mulls invoking emergency powers
Social Sharing The City of Thompson says moving wildfire evacuees from its congregate shelter to hotel lodgings should be "a top priority," but that finding accommodations is hard this time of the year. Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday following a visit to the shelter set up for evacuees at the city's regional community centre that hotel operators should step up and voluntarily open rooms for those who fled the fires, dangling the possibility of using emergency powers to get them to do so after seeing some with "parking lots that are empty." On Friday, the premier specifically referenced hotels in Thompson, which is about 650 kilometres north of Winnipeg as the crow flies. "I would invite you or anyone else to go Google Thompson hotel rooms right now. You'll see that you can book some rooms for the next week," he told reporters at an unrelated event Friday. "You got families with young, young kids. You know, I invite any parents out there to think about trying to raise a four-month-old and a four-year-old sleeping on a cot … going into day 18." WATCH | Premier calls on Thompson hotel operators to step up: Kinew wants more Thompson hotel rooms for wildfire evacuees 1 hour ago Duration 2:02 Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he doesn't like seeing the emergency shelter in Thompson filled with children and elders, while many hotel rooms in the city sit vacant. After visiting the shelter and getting an aerial view of wildfire damage on Thursday, Kinew hinted he could use emergency powers to force hotels to open more space for evacuees. The province said 180 evacuees were still at the Thompson congregate shelter as of Friday, more than two weeks since the province declared a state of emergency. In Winnipeg — which was expecting the largest number of evacuees — fewer than 90 people were staying at the Leila congregate shelter as of then, the government said. The City of Thompson said in an email statement Mayor Colleen Smook spoke with Kinew about the need to move the evacuees out of the congregate shelter quickly during the premier's visit to that city and the wildfire zone around Flin Flon Thursday. "Unfortunately, hotel rooms in Thompson can be difficult to find in the spring and summer due to construction projects employing many out-of-town workers," the statement said. Hotel room availability a complex situation: industry association More than 21,000 people have evacuated their communities because of the fires raging in the province. Manitoba Hotel Association CEO Michael Juce said there's only about 15,000 hotel rooms in Manitoba — some of them in places that are still under evacuation orders. "This is a really big challenge," Juce said. "Everyone travels for a purpose and sometimes those people are staying in a hotel for medical reasons or medical stays.… It's a really complex issue." WATCH | Kinew tours northern wildfire zone: Premier tours northern Manitoba wildfire zone 20 hours ago Duration 1:41 Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew got an aerial view of parts of northwestern Manitoba devastated by wildfires in recent weeks. He also met with those involved in the firefighting effort around Flin Flon and visited a congregate shelter in Thompson. Juce said the industry has been in constant dialogue with the province throughout the crisis. "This is … a massive logistical undertaking," he said. "We're just doing our best to share information as best we can and support our fellow Manitobans." Kinew said a large sector of the hotel industry has been very helpful in dealing with the situation, and he hopes the province doesn't need to resort to invoking emergency powers to free up rooms. "It's not charity we're asking for. You're getting paid for those rooms," he said Friday. "It's not going to be open-ended. We're talking about maybe another week."
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Climate
- Globe and Mail
Squamish, B.C., reports progress on wildfire fight, while rain expected in northeast
There's optimism from firefighters and local authorities as crews battle blazes in opposite corners of British Columbia heading into the weekend. The District of Squamish is reporting minimal overnight growth in the Dryden Creek fire that triggered a local state of emergency this week, while the BC Wildfire Service expects rain to help suppress the Pocket Knife Creek wildfire in the northeast. Smoke map: Squamish wildfire harms air quality in Whistler as warnings in place in B.C, Alta., Y.T. That fire is the biggest in the province at more than 1,500 square kilometres, and the wildfire service says it has grown significantly since merging with another fire on Sunday. BC Wildfire Service information officer Julia Caranci says in a video update on social media on Thursday that anticipated rain could aid in suppression efforts this weekend. She says she's hopeful the rain will help, although the fire has a large perimeter and it remains to be seen how much the rain affects fire behaviour. A situational report posted to the service website on Friday said rain was forecasted for most of northern B.C. this weekend before easing Sunday, and it warns of the possibility of slides caused by sudden rainfall on eroded areas. The report noted a 'warming trend' was expected to return to the province on Sunday, which could then stretch into next week and increase fire behaviour. Wildfire evacuees from remote north faced with hard decisions about their pets The blaze looming over Squamish, north of Vancouver, has grown to nearly 60 hectares in size, with the district reporting that crews made 'strong progress' on the southwestern flanks, while aviation crews focused on bucketing the northern edge. The district says in a posting to social media late Thursday that the fire spread on the northern side from 'steep, inoperable terrain into more accessible areas, allowing crews to engage more directly in suppression efforts.' The Squamish fire is among nearly 100 blazes actively burning across the province. There are three wildfires of note, the Pocket Knife Creek, the Kiskatinaw River fire and the Summit Lake fire, all in the northeast where most of the province's fire activity is concentrated.
