COUNTY - A Lunenburg County volunteer is among Canadian Red Cross disaster responders helping out in the flood and fire plagued western provinces.

 Yvonne Daubs, a Bridgewater Red Cross Centre volunteer since 2005, was deployed in late June to help with the relief efforts.

 The Blockhouse woman and a host of other Atlantic Canadian helpers went to various wildfire or flood relief operations in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba, the Canadian Red Cross said in a statement.

 The flooding and fires in Western Canada have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. More than two dozen Red Cross disaster volunteers and staff from this region are managing shelters or spelling off their western colleagues.

 Thousands of people in Alberta, including those within the Slave Lake area, were evacuated at some point due to wildfires, which destroyed hundreds of homes. Volunteer teams in Saskatchewan are supporting shelters and tracking and contacting forest fire and flood evacuees.

 Meanwhile, in Manitoba, volunteers are tracking flood evacuees, operating shelters and handing out cleanup kits to those who've returned to their homes.

posted on 07/19/11