Flights begin as evacuees plan Hay River, Fort Smith returns

More evacuees are heading home to Hay River and the Kátł’odeeche First Nation on Sunday, with Fort Smith opening to residents on Monday.

Sunday is expected to be a busier day of travel than Saturday. Many Hay River residents had already targeted Sunday as the town’s tentative reopening date, before that was brought forward to Saturday at the last minute.

Sunday is also the first day for Kátł’odeeche First Nation to return, and the day on which residents reliant on NWT government-provided flights are being taken home to Hay River.

The GNWT says flights on Sunday are repatriating Hay River residents who had been staying in Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, High Level, Edmonton and Calgary. The town said those flights would continue until the early afternoon.

Fort Smith flights are due to take place on Monday. A barrier at the intersections of Highway 2 and Highway 5 will lift at 6am on Monday, allowing people to drive Highway 5 home to Fort Smith by the time it officially reopens at 8am.

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There were no reported highway issues between Alberta and the South Slave on Sunday morning, though Highway 1 remains closed to the west between the Highway 3 intersection and Jean Marie River because of a wildfire.

Air quality was particularly poor across northern Alberta and the South Slave on Sunday, even by recent standards.

Residents reaching Hay River were coming home to Air Quality Index ratings of 500 or more, where anything above 300 is considered “emergency conditions.”

The Town of Hay River said its town office will reopen with normal hours as of Monday, with water, sewer, garbage and landfill services operating normally.

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