It goes without saying that the community of Fort McMurray, Alberta has gone through some tough times in recent years.

In May, 2016, wildfires ripped through the area for days, destroying neighbourhoods and evacuating the area for months. Oil downturns have played a role in many people’s livelihoods, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic turned a lot more people’s lives upside down.

Then, late last week, floods hit the downtown of the city, evacuating people and businesses.

The break-up of the ice on the rivers that flow beside the city is always a concern in the spring, but this year’s ice melt turned parts of the downtown into a flooded mess.

Mike Booth is a former Moose Jaw resident who now lives in Fort McMurray.

“This time of year, typically is a really tough one for people (because) it’s right around that May the 4th date where in 2016 the fire had happened,” said Booth. “It’s kind of just been things piling on people. You go to a part of town like Waterways, which has been already affected by this flooding, and a lot of homes are probably ruined because of it. And that was also an area where people lost their homes in 2016 as well.”

Efforts took place immediately once the water started rising to make berms and sandbags to save the area's hospital and Heritage Village.  

Although he personally doesn’t live in the evacuation area, he knows many who have had to leave their homes. Despite the pandemic the municipality is allowing people to stay at a hockey rink for temporary shelter.  

The recovery process won’t be happening overnight.

“We’re supposed to start jumping into the recovery stage May 2nd,” he said. “They’re hoping that we can start the recovery process in downtown… We’ve already started the recovery process in one of the industrial areas, Talganova. They’ve already starting to pump water out of some of the buildings down there…. Hopefully the downtown can start coming back anywhere from May 2nd to 4th.”  

The area downtown includes the regional hospital and many homes and businesses.