Four weeks after arriving in Cochrane, evacuees from the flooding in Kashechewan are going home this week.
Emergency management coordinator Richard Vallée tells My Cochrane Now Dot Com that three flights tomorrow (Wednesday) and three on Thursday will take the 173 people back to their community on the Albany River, near the James Bay coast.
“We weren’t originally on phase 1 of getting people here,” Vallée notes, “but then we were able to squeeze in, get some people and we were more than happy of that. We like receiving evacs every year.”
Vallée says everyone on his team of volunteers who hosted them is happy for them that they’re going home.
“I know it’s challenging, being out for the long. Usually for Cochrane, it’s always short-term, between 14 and 16 days and this time it’s a little longer stretch, close to 30 days, but we’re all happy at the outcome.”
Kapuskasing and Timmins are also among communities who hosted evacuees.