Coping with disaster: lessons from Slave Lake

[Alberta Premier Rachel Notley toured Fort McMurray on Monday, to see first-hand the wildfire destruction. CANADIAN PRESS VIDEOS]

Depression. Anxiety. Bitterness. Mood swings. Nightmares.

These were some of the rollercoaster of emotions that residents of Slave Lake, Alta., went through after watching fire destroy their community five years ago.

And emergency officials are all too aware that those forced to flee their Fort McMurray homes in northern Alberta are likewise suffering from the stress and trauma of being the victims of a disaster over which they have no control.

“Mental health staff are available at all the evacuation/reception centres across the North, and in Edmonton and Calgary, including four to five mental health therapists at the Expo centre in Edmonton who are actively engaging the evacuees and looking for people in emotional distress,” Carolyn Ziegler, assistant director of media services for Alberta Health, tells Yahoo Canada News.

Alberta Health has launched the Help in Tough Times website and distributed copies of a booklet outlining the support available for residents affected by the fire in reception centres in Edmonton, Calgary and the north.

“Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services are working on a medium to long term Mental Health strategy for those impacted by the wildfires.”

More than 80,000 have been evacuated from the path of the wildfire that has engulfed Fort McMurray and nearby communities. During a tour of Fort McMurray on Monday, Premier Rachel Notley said 2,400 buildings were damaged or destroyed but that 90 per cent of the city remained intact.

Address the emotional toll

Officials from Slave Lake wrote a comprehensive report on their own disaster experience following the May 2011 fire.

Among the advice they offered to other communities that face similar tragedies: address the emotional toll.

“Family violence, visits by addictions and mental health clients, use of sleeping pills and need for victim services have all increased,” says the report, Wisdom Gained, a report by the Town of Slave Lake.

“Some who didn’t lose their home have suffered from ‘survivor guilt’ or felt other stresses. Most residents have friends or family who lost homes.”

These reactions are common in major disasters.

“Disasters, from natural events such as hurricanes or earthquakes, to human-caused incidents such as mass shootings or terrorist attacks, are typically unexpected and overwhelming,” says the American Psychological Association.

“Even when you’re not hurt physically, disasters can take a serious emotional toll. Normal reactions include intense, unpredictable feelings; flashbacks; trouble concentrating or making decisions; disrupted eating and sleeping patterns; emotional upsets on anniversaries or other reminders; strained personal relationships; and physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea or chest pain.”

A team of researchers from the University of Lethbridge published a study last year in the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters on the effects of the Slave Lake fire on school children.

Based on surveys of children from grades 3 to 12, carried out six months and 12 months after the fire.

“Results showed that several children had psychological stress symptoms,” says a summary of the report.

“Some symptoms diminished over time but several symptoms remained for the duration of the study.”

The greatest psychological stress was among younger children, girls and children whose homes were destroyed, researchers found.

But counselling should not be limited to those who lose homes, they said. Early intervention is key and counselling should continue several years after the event, the report says.

The Slave Lake fire destroyed 333 family homes and 169 apartment units, along with three churches, 10 businesses and a local radios station in the community of 7,000.

In the municipal district, 56 homes and a fire hall were burned.

In the aftermath, officials provided support and programs that included anger management workshops and a wellness conference.

They held family fun nights as the town rebuilt and were determined to continue events such as their Canada Day celebration, a sand sculpture competition and their annual Riverboat Daze.

In schools, staff and counsellors worked counselling into the curriculum to help children cope with their emotions.

One year after the fire, recovery was well on its way but healing would take some time to come, the report notes.

“The sense of loss and stress can easily resurface, even with small triggers such as realization of a lost Christmas ornament, the smell of smoke, sirens going off or even dark clouds in the sky,” it says.