Attawapiskat First Nation evacuees who fled flooding conditions earlier this week are returning home Thursday.
The first flight carrying 47 people left around 9 a.m. from the Thunder Bay International Airport. Another five flights are scheduled to leave throughout the day to bring all 260 evacuees home.
Emily Noah was excited to be returning home.
“Being away from home is not like being at home,” she said, but she had no complaints about the accommodations and services she received while in the city.
She was happy to be seeing her grandkids and children again soon.
“It’s pretty hard … when you leave your own hometown,” she said.
“It’s tiring when you’re travelling when it’s rushing.”
Deputy fire chief David Paxton said they were running close to schedule as the first plane boarded Thursday morning.
“A few delays trying to organize some of the people through both hotels,” he said. “It’s going fairly smoothly right now. They’re ready to take off back home to Attawapiskat.”
Paxton said the most difficult task has been the coordination of different agencies in the organization of community members’ morning schedules.
And despite having an early breakfast call at 7 a.m., most of the evacuees were ready to go home.
“Everyone had their luggage ready to go and outside of a few stragglers we had to round up, everything went smooth,” Paxton said.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army were also at the Valhalla helping to coordinate the evacuees’ departure.
The Salvation Army’s executive director Mervyn Halvorsen said they have been helping in any way they can since the evacuees arrived in Thunder Bay.
“Together as a team, we’re able to provide a unified service and help in whatever ways we can. For us it might be lifting luggage, it might be pushing a wheelchair, sitting down and chatting with people,” he said. “We’re happy to be part of that.”
