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Where do we go from here?

The dust and smoke are starting to settle on Fort McMurray and a big question remains: what now? What do we do with over 80,000 displaced people and their families? Some have already decided they will not return to Fort McMurray.

The dust and smoke are starting to settle on Fort McMurray and a big question remains: what now?

What do we do with over 80,000 displaced people and their families?

Some have already decided they will not return to Fort McMurray. Others are in a state of suspended animation, simply waiting to return to their homes from campgrounds, stranger’s homes, evacuation centers or family’s houses – if they are lucky.

What happens with those families who do not have insurance? And with those who do?

Already, credit rating companies like Standard and Poor’s are predicting that insurance rates within the province will rise as a result of the fire, deemed to be one of the 10 most expensive disasters in the country’s history.

And how about those tiny communities like Lac La Biche and Boyle, whose populations have swelled by the thousands and will need a steadier stream of access to goods and services?

To say the work being done by volunteers has been amazing is an understatement. However, in the long run, volunteering to provide for families just cannot remain the status quo.

Most importantly, how do we make sure this never happens again?

The Alberta government cut almost $15 million from the wildfire budget not a month before “The Beast” grew out of control. About $5.1 million of that would have gone toward air tankers. With the cut, numerous pilots were let go and unavailable when disaster struck.

A further $9.6 million was removed from “base funding.” Could that have gone towards better communications, so that Fort Mac residents could have known to keep their cars full of gas and packed with emergency food, clothes and water – just in case?

They say that lighting never strikes in the same place twice.

But, in the last three years, Alberta has suffered multiple wildfires and floods that have forced people to flee from their homes.

Let’s start answering these questions now so that, when disaster strikes again, we are better prepared.

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