FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Alberta Premier Alison Redford toured the northern city of Fort McMurray on Friday and visited with volunteers filling sandbags. It was the first opportunity Redford had to see the impact the flood will have on the community.
“It’s a shame to come up here and see the developments over the last three or four days, but it’s incredible to see the community spirit and the number of people that are volunteering here.”
The visit came on the same day Environment Canada ended a weather warning for the Fort McMurray area as more than 400 people in the community face evacuation orders due to flooding. And a state of local emergency remained in effect.
Mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Melissa Blake, tells Global News it hopefully looks like the worst is over.
The weather forecast for the region is still calling for possible showers Friday night and Saturday, but then there is supposed to be plenty of sunshine from Sunday through next week.
High water is already eroding the banks of the overflowing Hangingstone River that runs through the city.
RCMP have been knocking on doors to let people know about the evacuation orders in Ptarmigan Court, Grayling Terrace, and a community at the south end of Draper Road.
On Thursday, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo told 340 residents in Grayling Terrace and another 78 in the Draper Road area to pack their belongings and leave.
“Hopefully nothing happens. Hopefully we’re good to go,” said Bruce Carswell, a Grayling Terrace Resident.
“We’ve been driving by here everyday for 10 years and you just don’t think that that little stream, which you call a river, could ever turn into this monster that almost took us all out,” added John Wuis, a resident of Ptarmigan Court.
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Some evacuees weren’t sure where they would sleep Thursday night as they lined up at an emergency reception area.
Resident Ioana Lucacio said the situation was stressful.
“But it is what it is,” Lucacio said. “There’s nothing you can do. You can’t have any control over a potential natural disaster. Hopefully it’s not going to happen.”
RCMP Supt. Bob Couture said 35 members were knocking on doors to impose the evacuations, while another 20 officers were regulating the surrounding area and directing traffic.
“These situations are complex,” said Couture. “People are out there now, doing that door-to-door, talking. It takes us some time to do that. In most cases, what we’re seeing, people in our city, in our region, have been absolutely fantastic in complying with the requirements.”
Terry Gillingham was already packed up when police came knocking. They told him earlier this week he might want to get his things ready in case the situation got worse.
Gillingham registered at the reception centre and then turned in his cat to the SPCA temporarily.
He said it was an easy evacuation at his home.
“We’re not like overly happy that this happened for sure,” said Gillingham. “We are concerned that something could get worse but sort of optimistic with it. I think this is a precaution thing that they’re doing because there is the potential for something to happen so this is the right thing.”
Eva Manengyao said she wasn’t concerned about her property as long as she and her husband were safe.
“We don’t know yet,” she said when asked where she would go. “We’re trying to call one of our rectors at the church and one of our elders at the church offered us a place to stay. So, we’ll see.”
“Public safety is of the utmost concern at this point in time,” the RM said on its website.
“Emergency services personnel have made the decisions to evacuate based on the safety and security of residents.”
Sixty-nine homes in the Ptarmigan Court Trailer Park were ordered out several days ago.
Boil water advisories were in place for two days, but on Thursday afternoon, they were lifted for the Waterways area.
At this time it is not known when residents will be allowed back in their homes.
“We’ll take our cue from Melissa. We’ve had a discussion already with respect to what comes next and from everything we’ve heard, the next step is to assess what the damage has been,” Redford said.
From there, engineers will be brought in to inspect and see how best to fix eroded areas, Redford said.
“I think it’s probably not a short-term process, to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to support what needs to happen.”
The photos below were taken by Vassy Kapelos, Global News:
With files from Global News
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