Regretful homecoming: Fort McMurray evacuee can't find housing in N.L.
A woman driving home to Newfoundland after fleeing the Fort McMurray wildfires says she regrets the decision to come back. Heather Snow says her family can't find a place to stay.
Snow hopes to rent a furnished apartment in Gander or Grand Falls-Windsor from June to September, and plans to spend the summer in the province with her two-year-old son and two dogs while her husband returns to work north of Fort McMurray.
"I honestly thought it was going to be really easy, going back to my home province," she said during a telephone interview from Halifax. "I've put ads out. I really thought people were going to be willing to help right away."
But the homecoming is not what Snow, who has lived in Fort McMurray for the past 9 years, expected.
"I was kind of shocked that nobody wanted to rent short term," she said. "And I have a little dog, so nobody wanted to take any dogs."
'It's been awful'
Snow, her husband Chris, their toddler and two dogs headed out on May 19 in an SUV filled to the brim with their belongings.
"It's been awful, it's been very long and thankfully my son is doing pretty good," said Snow, after six days on the road.
After the evacuation they stayed in a small camper, but the cramped space made the idea of heading east appealing. Now, the uncertainty about housing in Newfoundland makes them wish they'd stayed put.
To make herself a more attractive tenant, Snow is placing her Labrador Retriever in the care of her husband's aunt, but wants to keep her small Pomeranian by her side. Right now, her choices are limited.
"I could stay at different people's houses I guess for a short time, I don't really know."
On Tuesday, the Snow family made a pit stop at a relative's house in Halifax, as they waited for the ferry crossing from North Sydney at 11:45 p.m.
"I'm still shocked, everything kind of seems like the movies, like nothing seems real," said Heather Snow, who is still trying to process the upheaval her family has endured.
She says the only thing she knows for sure is that the exhausting journey will not be repeated. When they return to Fort McMurray in the fall they will either ship the SUV or find someone willing drive it back.
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With files from Central Morning Show