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In reply to the discussion: Fort McMurray wildfire threatens to double in size by day's end (includes videos) [View all]Rhiannon12866
(205,320 posts)The Alberta government will release a plan to let people back into Fort McMurray and neighbouring communities in about two weeks, although some will be met with little more than burned bike frames in their backyards and reams of twisted iron scattered throughout their neighbourhoods.
Premier Rachel Notley, who toured Fort McMurray on Monday, said roughly 2,400 buildings in Fort McMurray have been damaged or destroyed. The hospital, municipal buildings and all of the schools, save for one under construction, have been saved. Most of the critical infrastructure remains, she told reporters in Fort McMurray.
We will be able to provide a schedule for return within two weeks, Ms. Notley told reporters at the emergency operations centre that is running out of the citys Firehall No. 5. In some cases, re-entry may or may not involve permanent re-entry.
More than 10 per cent of the buildings in Fort McMurray have been ruined and the fire consuming this region of northern Alberta remains out of control. Hot spots and hazards remain in town, even in areas the fire flattened last week.
The government toured select media through Fort McMurray on Monday, accompanied by RCMP and other officials. In Abasand, apartment complexes have been wiped out, backyards host charred barbecues and blackened metal fences. Houses have been flattened and their contents from bathtubs to unidentifiable piles of metal lie twisted and blackened. The streets are largely clear, although the buildings and their contents look like they were hit with a tornado. Pinkish concrete foundations remain.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/about-85-per-cent-of-fort-mcmurray-still-intact-2400-structures-lost/article29945682/
Damage from the wildfires is seen in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood in Fort McMurray, Alta., on Monday, May 9, 2016.
(Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS)