Lac La Biche - Fort McMurray and area residents forced from their communities by unprecedented flooding of the northern community are now staying in Lac La Biche County —mostly at hotels around the community.
And as upwards of 200 evacuees came down to the Lac La Biche area, Lac La Biche County has sent two senior administrators up to Fort McMurray. On Sunday, Lac La Biche County's FCSS manager Anita Polturak went to Fort McMurray to assist with the northern community's social well-being and planning. On Monday, the county's regional fire chief went to assist. John Kokotilo is now the Operations Section Chief in the Fort McMurray flooding command centre.
The Fort McMurray region has been under a state of emergency since the middle of last week when ice jams on the Athabasca River sent flows over the banks and into the Fort McMurray townsite and communities along the river.
"Two hundred individuals have been sent to Lac La Biche," said Lac La Biche County CAO Ken VanBuul this morning at Lac La Biche County's council meeting, adding that evacuees are mainly in community hotels. "The costs for the hotel stays are being covered by Fort McMurray."
VanBuul went on to say that the Lac La Biche area will see more people fleeing the flood.
"We will have some additional residents for some period of time," he said, adding that COVID-19 precautions will be strictly enforced with the evacuees — as they are with area residents. "We are expecting them to practice physical distancing and doing what's right."
COVID concerns with evacuees
County councillor Lorin Tkachuk questioned whether any of the evacuees coming to the community had been through further screening. Asking for some clarification on a rumour he had heard that the evacuees had been pre-screened for COVID, he asked administration if tests had been given.
While the Lac La Biche region has yet to record any confirmed cases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Fort McMurray has 20 reported cases — 15 currently active. Fort McMurray currently has the fourth highest caseload of active Coronavirus cases in the province, including Calgary and Edmonton.
In the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, two cases are listed as being recovered.
"Are they getting tested," Tkachuk asked of the Fort McMurray evacuees coming to the Lac La Biche community.
The county's senior administration didn't have a specific answer to the question this morning at the beginning of the council meeting, but Van Buul hoped to have an answer by the end of the day.
Van Buul also wasn't aware if the evacuees were all in one place or if they were spread out and housed in hotels around the community — but said from the amount of vehicles at several local hotels, he assumed the evacuees were spread out.
"There's a few hotel parking lots with lots of vehicles in them."
