Thousands more evacuees to return to Fort Mac Thursday
Posted Jun 2, 2016 8:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Fort McMurray is set to welcome back a second wave of evacuees Thursday.
Smokey day 2 of Fort McMurray re-entry: Parsons Creek, Stone Creek, Timberlea, Eagle Ridge, Dickinsfield. #ymmfire pic.twitter.com/0bBkTHx2KK
— Crystal Laderas (@CrisLaderas) June 2, 2016
More than 7,500 people returned Wednesday to their homes downtown and in some small surrounding communities.
That included the Lower Townsite, Anzac, Fort McMurray 468 First Nation and Gregoire Lake Estates.
Director of Emergency Management Bob Couture says day one went as smoothly as it could.
“Many of our residents returned,” he said. “They returned because they had great planning and preparation for their journey. They arrived safely following the dates and times we asked them to. We ask that you continue that process and we’re looking for your continued arrival to our great community. We want to welcome you home.”
Zone Two opens Thursday morning, which means residents of Parsons Creek, Stone Creek, Timberlea, Eagle Ridge and Dickensfield can head home.
Country 93.3’s Bradley Karp says those areas are home to more than 40,000 people, but he adds based on what he saw Wednesday, it looks like a lot of people have decided to wait.
He says crews are still working to restore services.
“Services didn’t seem to be overwhelmed, about 1,500 homes had their natural gas services restored by ATCO yesterday, so all-in-all I think it was a good day with no real issues,” he said, adding people have been impressed with the seven information centres, where they’ve been able to take care of business and register relatively quickly before heading home.
“I think some of the positive messaging that came out yesterday may encourage some people to come home today who maybe hadn’t thought about it,”
But that moment of opening the front door has been a different experience for everyone, depending on what they find inside, from mould and water damage, to a house which looks exactly how they left it.
“I think people are just happy to be back home, whatever shape or form that may look like for them, I think people are just happy to know that the community is safe and most of Fort McMurray is here,” explained Karp.
However, the province is again suggesting anyone with a chronic or acute medical condition, like asthma, or requiring regular primary care, specialist care, laboratory, or diagnostic services not return yet since services to help with that aren’t up and running yet.
That also extends to anyone requiring counselling or mental health services, anyone more than 36 weeks pregnant or a high-risk pregnancy, anyone receiving cancer treatment, dialysis, or other specialized medical services including home care, home oxygen or home health supports as well as anyone recently discharged from hospital or had a transplant.
If someone is still not sure if their home is safe to return to, they can check the Government of Alberta Emergency Updates website which has a number of tools available.
The areas of Thickwood and Wood Buffalo will open to evacuees Friday, with the remaining safe neighbourhoods opening Saturday and Sunday.
Re-entry into Waterways, Abasand and Beacon Hill has been delayed until remediation and clean-up has been completed and plans are being made for residents to briefly visit homes in restricted areas.
