By Tyler Marr

Hundreds of evacuees head back to Southend as evacuation order rescinded

Jun 26, 2018 | 2:00 PM

Hundreds milled about the Prince Albert Inn Tuesday morning, packing away belongings into bags and totes, eager to board buses or take their private vehicles back to the northern community of Southend.

The evacuation order for the town was rescinded by the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s Emergency Operations Centre late Monday, as the wildfire threat to Southend had diminished. Nearly 900 people were registered as evacuees from the area, with 579 opting to stay in Prince Albert during the evacuation. An estimated 325 were resting in hotels, with the remaining 250 staying with friends and family.

Director of Social Services Alan Jones said priority-one individuals — the elderly and those with illness or young children — will stay in the city for a few more days. Everyone else able to make their way north is expected to do so.

“I think anyone who has been away from home for a week is looking forward to going home,” he said. 

Jones heaped praise on the organizations who helped care for the residents forced to flee from their homes last week. He said roughly a dozen Red Cross volunteers, three to five workers from social services and between five and 10 volunteers from the Cree nation assisted each day.

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Though Florence Clarke was supposed to stay for a couple more days in the city, she said she was eager to get home, despite the smoke. She was hitching a ride with her daughter and grandchildren.

“I am ready to challenge it. If it gets worse I will go out on the lake,” she laughed.

Clarke said her time at the hotel was fantastic, adding everyone “was treated really good,” and listing off a long list of food and activities for children and Elders which the volunteers helped organize to pass the time.

Bella Dumais agreed her time away from home was excellent, despite the scary circumstances.

“I think it was a time for people to come together as a community,” Dumais said. “That’s how I see it. Unfortunately, it had to be this way.”

Dumais said the evacuation was the first time a number of kids visited the city, which they enjoyed, and some used an elevator for the first time.

“But we are ready to go now,” she said.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr