Fort McMurray residents shuffled between hotels
Some frustrated, uncertain about where they’ll be sleeping each night
FORT MCMURRAY Some displaced Fort McMurray residents have been forced to check out of hotels without knowing where they will end up, but the Red Cross says there is enough accommodation in the city for all who need it.
Vanessa Linde works at the reception desk at the Stonebridge Hotel and said she empathizes with displaced residents who have to check out because, like them, she has no idea where she’ll be sleeping each night.
Linde says she woke up extra early on Wednesday before her shift at the Stonebridge started in order to pack up and check out of the Best Western where she has stayed since returning to the city. She can’t go back to her rental home in Dickensfield because it was damaged when a nearby property exploded a few days after the May 3 wildfire evacuation.
Linde said she’ll be moving into one of the units the Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality has set aside for people whose homes have been lost but the accommodation is not yet ready. For now, she’s focused on staying positive.
One of the ways she’s expressed that is by getting a “Fort Mac Strong” tattoo on the inside of her forearm.
Another is by trying to help others who are frustrated and uncertain about where they’ll be sleeping each night.
“I’m in the same boat,” she said she tells them. As her shift at the Stonebridge neared its end Wednesday afternoon, the Red Cross told her they had secured her one more night at the Best Western.
Red Cross vice-president for Alberta and the Northwest Territories Jenn McManus said there is enough accommodation available in the region for all of the residents who are unable to return to their own homes. But while the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo block-booked enough hotels, following an extension of a booking, some people had to check out while new rooms were organized for them.
“There’s a couple of families and a couple of individuals who are going to have to change hotels,” McManus said, adding that teams are on the ground to assist people who have to check out.
She said the municipality has the hotels booked until the end of June.
McManus also said that if it is at all possible, returning residents should try to arrange accommodation for themselves so that the booked rooms can go to people who truly have nowhere else to go.
Still, even with the assurances that a room will be made available, having to move is stressful for residents like Shelly and Kevin Hinds.
The couple arrived back in Fort McMurray on Tuesday. Their Wood Buffalo home was destroyed in the fire, and they had been staying with their son in Calgary.
After unpacking what’s left of their possessions into a room at the Stonebridge on Tuesday, Shelly said having to pack it all up again on Wednesday was tough.
The couple waited six hours without getting a call from the Red Cross, only to return to the Stonebridge on Wednesday night to find out they could check back for that evening.
“I’m restless and frustrated,” Shelly said.
Thursday morning, the Hinds were told they would be able to stay at the Stonebridge until July 1. Shelly said it’s a weight off her mind, and that she and her husband planned to spend the day visiting the local food bank to pick up water and to look for a more permanent residence.