Cash on way to Fort Mac evacuees
Red Cross, Alberta government provide emergency funds
EDMONTON — Carol Christian and her son fled the forest fire in Fort McMurray with little more than a suitcase, photo albums and their cat.
As it turns out, that’s all they have left. The fire destroyed their home.
Christian wept Wednesday when she heard the Red Cross is divvying up an immediate payment of $50 million to evacuees on top of emergency funds from the Alberta government.
Each adult is to receive $600 and each child $300 from the Red Cross. The money is to be electronically transferred within the next two days.
“The whole country has opened up their hearts to us,” Christian said from Ontario, where she is staying with her mother. “It’s just amazing. ”
Red Cross CEO Conrad Sauvé said the charity decided to give donations directly to evacuees since everybody has unique needs and individuals can decide how best to spend the money.
“This is the most important cash transfer we have done in our history and the fastest one,” he said Wednesday at a news conference with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.
Sauvé said a total of $67 million has been donated to the Red Cross so far and much of that will be matched by the provincial and federal governments.
“We know already that the damage resulting from the wildfire will be in the billions and it will take years to recover,” he said. “But we also know that the needs of those affected are immediate.”
Notley reminded people that the Alberta government is also providing immediate monetary assistance. Debit cards are being handed out at evacuee centres and other locations across the province. Every adult evacuee is to receive $1,250 and each dependent $500.
“Our aim is to get help to the evacuees who need it the most as quickly as possible,” she said. “There will be long lineups, especially in the early days of distribution, so I am asking all evacuees if you don’t need emergency funding immediately, please let those in desperate need be first in line.”
The government anticipates the emergency funding will cost up to $100 million. The province is also matching donations made by Albertans to the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, crews are working around the clock to restore power and natural gas to Fort McMurray, but the chief operating officer of the utility that serves the area says it’s impossible to say how soon residents will be able to go home.
“If you can imagine a charred power line pole that we don’t want to take out of service, but we want to reinforce — it’s something we obviously want to do with great care,” Atco COO Siegfried Kiefer said Wednesday following the company’s annual meeting.
More than 80,000 people were forced to flee Fort McMurray last week. The blaze destroyed about 2,400 structures, but about 90 per cent of the city was saved.