I don’t think
I’ve ever seen anything, anywhere, like the wildfire eating it’s way across the
northern part of the western Canadian province of Alberta. Approximately 90,000
people were evacuated from the city of Fort McMurray and its surrounding area.
Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed.
The videos taken
by those passing through what was the Beacon Hill neighborhood of the city are
surreal to watch. Streets are lined with concrete driveways leading to nowhere
and ending in unrecognizable piles of charred debris. Some vehicles left parked
along the street in this residential neighborhood are nothing more than burned
out shells of metal. Later videos show a line of demarcation of sorts—houses on
one side of a street virtually untouched while on the other side of the street,
lays complete devastation.
Families fled,
most with only the clothes on their backs. To escape the conflagration,
residents had to run a fiery gauntlet along Provincial highway 63—the only route
south out of town—the trees and grass ablaze on both sides of the road. I can’t
imagine the terror they experienced as they started out on their quest for
safety. Some cars and trucks were abandoned on the side of the road, because
they ran out of gas. The fire is still burning, still enormous and out of
control, although it appears to be moving away from the city. The temperatures
have dropped and some rain has fallen, both of which are blessings. It’s still
too soon for people to be allowed back into the city of course, so for now Fort
McMurray—which had been completely evacuated—resembles the abandoned set of a
disaster movie.
In a news release
yesterday, the fire chief reported that about 85 percent of the city was intact.
While there has been no fire related deaths or serious injuries, two young
people were killed in an automobile accident, as the pair were driving to flee
the area. The young woman who lost her life, a ninth grade student, was the
daughter of a firefighter, a man on duty battling the flames.
It really could
have been much, much worse, and I guess until that fire is out, it still could
be.
Eventually the
time will come for people to return to Fort McMurray and then the real work will
begin—and the reality will settle in for some that all they owned, all they’ve
spent their lives building, is now gone.
The Canadian Red
Cross has sent out an urgent appeal for donations, and people here have
responded in a magnificent way. I believe it is important for everyone who can,
to give something. You might not think your ten dollars or even five
dollars can make a difference: but thousands of people who can only give five or
ten dollars, together contribute millions. Already more than 30 million dollars
have been raised, but much more is and will be needed.
The Canadian
government, led by Prime Minister Trudeau, has pledged to match donations dollar
for dollar, which means your five dollars immediately becomes ten, and your ten,
twenty.
I happen to know
that Americans who are so inclined can also contribute to the Canadian Red
Cross, because several of my friends south of the border have already done so.
One friend reminded me that she’d been aware of Canadian donations in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and she said she wanted to return the
favor.
Cynics would have
us believe that during apocalyptic events, humanity shows itself at it’s worst.
That has never been my view. Yes, in moments of crises, there might be some
people who take advantage, who steal and loot, but that’s not the most of us.
It’s only some of us. Most of us, if given the opportunity, will reach out to
our fellow human beings and offer a hand up. Most of us respond when asked to
help, knowing that all of us are at risk of being in need. Fate is capricious
and no respecter of gender, age, or environment. None of us can state with any
kind of assurance that tragedy or crises will never happen to us.
Please keep the
people of Fort McMurray, and the firefighters—some whom are now there from other
towns and provinces—in your thoughts and prayers.
Prayers work, and
are as necessary for recovery and survival as are donations.
Love,
Morgan
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