The Edmonton Expo Centre opened Friday at noon for evacuees from Yellowknife.
In an interview, Gerry Clarke, Edmonton’s emergency support response coordinator, told Global that there was a “soft opening” of the evacuation centre before noon where they processed approximately 200 people.
The Expo Centre was set up for evacuees over the course of three hours, Clarke said.
Clarke said they are setting up 300 beds but have the capacity to set up over 3,500.
St. Albert’s evacuation centre, with a capacity for 600 evacuees, is full and Leduc saw 732 evacuees and reached capacity. Edmonton said that they are prepared for much more than that.
“Maybe about 5,000 (evacuees). So we’ve got our resources all set up to handle roughly that number,” said Clarke.
Clarke said the Red Cross is helping get hotel rooms for evacuees and that, if there is capacity, the turn-over time for families shouldn’t be long.
“If the hotel availability was there, then it should be pretty quick, maybe about a 12-hour turnover. If (it) happens late in the day, then it could be an overnight group lodging here or something. But again, they’re going to try to get them processed as quick as possible,” said Clarke.
They have cots set up for evacuees to rest for a few hours while people try to get supports sorted for them.
“You can see in a lot of their faces that they’ve had a long journey … I’m guessing 14 hours vehicle-wise,” said Clarke. “They’re going to be tired, they’re going to be hungry, they’re going to want just basically some resources to put their head down, anything like that.
“And if people do need to put their head down and catch a couple hours, especially if they have young families, than that option is available.”
The City of Edmonton said it has responded to the request for assistance from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
The Expo Centre, located at 7515 118th Ave. N.W., will be using Hall C for the evacuees. The city said there will be food services, clothing, pet care, health care and temporary lodging.
“Though a difficult situation brings you to our city, know you are safe here and have our support,” city manager Andre Corbould said.
Evacuees are encouraged to come directly to the Expo Centre upon arrival if they need support.
“If they’re on their way down from Northwest Territories, it would be vital to come in register with us. That way you have access to any of the services that we can provide,” said Clarke.
“If you’re staying with family and friends, we can feed you here, we can provide you lodging, we can get you lined up with the Red Cross Animal Care and Control. At least that way we get you some kind of the availability for the services that we provide. And that includes also reimbursable expenses.”
Edmontonians are being asked not to bring any donations. The city said donations and volunteers are not needed at this time.
“We’ve got the vital stuff that we need. Unfortunately, I remember in 2016, with the Fort McMurray evacuation, we got a lot of donations, and a lot of it was stuff that couldn’t be used by the evacuees. So a lot of it ended up getting donated once the event was over,” Clarke said.
“Right now, we have clothing and cots and pillows and blankets in excess of probably 5,000. And we have access to over 20,000 complete units in a 72-hour period. So we have everything we need right here. Or we can get a very shortly.”
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