Only time will ease suffering after avalanche

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The people of Kangiqsualujjauq are working long hours in an effort to recover from the devastating avalanche that buried a section of their community on New Year's Eve and killed nine people and injured another 25.

"It's slowly, slowly moving. We are trying to get organized," said Maggie Emudluk, mayor for the Inuit municipality. At this time people are trying to recover from the shock of what happened, but they are getting a lot of support from each other, she said.

The avalanche hit the village's school gymnasium around 1:30 a.m. where half the community was celebrating New Year's Eve. Four adults and five children were killed in the crush of snow. People in the northern village worked well into the next day to recover those who were buried.

"It's going to take some time before people get back to normal," said Emudluk. Right now the focus is on getting basic needs met in the community. That includes food, clothing and the snowmobiles and sleds damaged or lost to the avalanche, she said.

Work is also underway to get temporary buildings to replace the decimated school and the two stores and church that had to be shut down, said a weary sounding Emudluk. The province has promised financial aid to Kangiqsualujjauq, reported to be about $750,000, to assist in meeting immediate needs.

The psychological help people may need to cope is being identified in order to find the best way to assist the community. Help is available, said the mayor. Quebec Health and Social Services will be providing counseling services to the people of the village. Since the funerals there has been concern about how the children are reacting to the situation, said the mayor.

The Quebec government has implemented emergency measures to deal with the short term needs in Kangiqsualujjuaq, said Mark Lavallee, spokesperson for Quebec's Public Security.

If individuals and the municipality suffer financial loss as a result of the avalanche there will be reimbursement, he said. Now that the immediate basic needs are being covered, each provincial ministry will provide specific assistance that is needed to the Inuit village, he promised.

"Health and Social Services has eight people over there to provide specialized help," said Lavallee.

"We are working well with the province," said Emudluk.

The support the village has received from across Canada has been tremendous, said the mayor. But while Emudluk is pleased about the support that is being offered, the remote village is not used to dealing with so many outsiders, including the invasion of reporters that have been on the scene since the tragedy.

Emudluk is hopeful a public inquiry announced by the government of Quebec shortly after the avalanche will begin in the next few weeks. The inquiry will bring to light why a 1995 report by an avalanche expert for the school board was not brought to the municipality's attention, said Emudluk. It recommended that snow fences be put up around the school. It has also been reported that the province had not seen the report.

"The community requested the inquiry be held as much as possible there, so they can be part of it," said Lavallee. Accommodations for an inquiry committee will not be easy to arrange in the remote community. An existing transit house that is used by Hydro-Quebec will most likely be used to conduct the inquiry hearings, he said.

The official mandate of the committee is just being established, said the spokesperson. The inquiry and the recommendations following it will likely take many months to complete, said Lavallee.

"It's not like a cut that you can put a Band-Aid on. It's going to take time to talk about this," said Emudluk. We have to go through the hardship, but maybe this can be prevented from happening again," she said.