SYDNEY, N.S. -- Some Maritimers living in Fort McMurray, Alta., are among those who have been forced to evacuate their homes because of major flooding.
As an ice jam causes river levels to rise quickly, the panic and uncertainty brings back memories from the wildfire that swept through the area four years ago.
A view from the air shows the devastation is widespread.
On the ground, homes and essential services during a global pandemic are under water.
Brenda MacDonald is from Cape Breton, but now lives in Fort McMurray. She was told to leave her home at 1 a.m. Sunday.
"Especially with the virus and everything that's happening now, it's devastating to see," MacDonald said.
People forced from their homes are registering at evacuation centres -- a process that brings flashbacks to the wildfire of 2016.
"People were just coming back out of the fire, and getting back on their feet, and now to see the flood," MacDonald said. "The downtown looks like a river and an island right now."
Matt MacDonald, who is originally from Glace Bay, has been forced out of his home and is now staying with family.
"Nothing will ever be home, but this is where I set up base and it's given me every opportunity I could ever ask for," he said. "I had to move everything from my basement to the upstairs. Pretty much rearranging my whole house to get ready for the flood, then I had to take my wife and two kids up to my mother's."
An ice jam caused river levels to quickly rise. The municipality prepares every year for the possibility of flooding when the ice breaks up, but it's been a while since they've seen anything like this.
"This is a yearly challenge," said Don Scott, the mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo."The last time we had a flood was '97, and we had a different kind of flood in 2013, but in '77, '97 we had similar ice jam floods so we prepare for this every single year."
A local state of emergency has been declared to deal with the flooding, in addition to the one already in place for the pandemic.
