Fort Mac. faces flood threat

The spring ice breakup on rivers in northern Alberta is forcing some residents of Fort McMurray neighbourhoods from their homes, and people in the city’s downtown have been warned to be ready to react in case the evolving situation changes.

“Every year the ice breaks and we have some sort of event. Usually the ice flows on by. Once approximately every 20 years we have something different happen,” said Don Scott, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, in a phone interview Sunday.

“This happens to be that year.”

The municipality has declared a secondary state of local emergency, which comes on top of an initial state of local emergency declared last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott said that for several days, officials were monitoring an ice jam about 10 kilometres upstream. Early Sunday morning, it let loose.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Draper, a rural community of 187 residents just outside of Fort McMurray, as well as for Longboat Landing, an area near the city’s downtown, and for the Tiaga Nova industrial park which also has a hotel.

Late Sunday afternoon, a voluntary evacuation order was made mandatory for the Waterways neighbourhood including the Ptarmigan Court Trailer Park, while the rest of the city’s downtown residents have been told to pay attention to information from the city and take action if necessary.

Christina MacKay of Wood Buffalo Housing, which manages assisted and independent living facilities for seniors in downtown Fort McMurray, said some families were coming by on Sunday to pick residents up.