Around 300 Jasper evacuees have checked into the City of Grande Prairie’s reception centre as of July 29th according to the latest reports from GPREP.
Despite the number, city officials maintain that just because 300 residents have checked in, that does not suggest that 300 evacuees are being supported, with the actual number of guests in the city closer to around 140, accessing services through GPREP such as food and accommodations.
Chief of Public and Protective Services for the City of Grande Prairie Dan Lemieux shared some insight into why the number has fluctuated in recent days saying it could be due to late arrivals or evacuees simply not registering upon arrival.
“There was definitely frustration [among evacuees] because of the long detour, some people chose to stay in Valemount hoping they could go back home quickly, they realized after a few days they weren’t going home so they did make the trip to Grande Prairie which is a lengthy trip,” he says. “The registration process at the reception centre is absolutely critical so that we can keep track and make sure that everybody’s accounted for.”
Recently, the City of Grande Prairie reached an agreement with the Town of Jasper to host displaced residents through GPREP for one week. The agreement has since been extended until August 7th; however, Lemieux says the city is likely to continue extending the agreement as long as it is necessary.
“We may very well be asked to extend it again, I don’t believe the plans have been firmed up in terms of when people can return to Jasper, so if we’re requested to host the evacuees longer, we’ll certainly do that.”
When it comes to the cost of hosting, Chief Lemieux says the city will reach out to the province to be reimbursed for any expenditures accumulated during the evacuation, meaning Grande Prairie taxpayers will not likely see any reflection.
“We’ll be submitting a disaster relief program application, so most of those expenditures are going to be refunded, if not all of them, by the Provincial Government.”
Jasper evacuees heading to the City of Grande Prairie should be aware that the evacuation reception centre will no longer be located at Bonnetts Energy Centre. The new location is now at the Holiday Inn and Suites and will run during the same hours from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
