Canadian officials have got their first glimpse of the oil sands boomtown of Fort McMurray since a wildfire hit and saw a "heartbreaking" number of destroyed homes but a largely intact downtown business area.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed a years-long commitment to rebuild the town, saying the national government was working with local officials and businesses to get a better handle on the damage in the town whose 88,000 residents evacuated following the start of the fire on May 1.
"We will support and invest in rebuilding Fort McMurray in a broad range of ways in the coming days, weeks, months and yes, years," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa, but gave no details.
Afternoon headlines: Canada's fires larger than Greater London and the death of a soldier treated as 'unexplained' https://t.co/DgTIDL7aFB
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 8, 2016
The fire that has ravaged some 161,000ha of Alberta moved far enough away from the evacuated town to allow an official delegation led by the province's premier, Rachel Notley, to visit.
"Massive residential damage ... couldn't keep track of the unaffected streets. Large portions destroyed," Ward Councilor Tyran Ault said on Twitter, adding that the neighborhood of Beacon Hill was in "heartbreaking" condition.
Other parts of the city were in better condition, he added, saying, "Downtown looks great. Business unaffected! Hospital too. Burnt trees and smouldering visible across the Clearwater (River) though."
That assessment came a few hours after insurance experts revised sharply downward their estimates of the cost of damage from the blaze, which began on May 1.
Canada's largest property and casualty insurer Intact Financial Corp expects to suffer losses ranging from $C130 million to $C160 million ($NZ148 million to $182 million) from the wildfire. Intact used satellite imagery and geocoding technology to see if buildings were a total loss or partially destroyed.
Analysts said Intact's forecast implied overall industry losses of between $C1 billion to $C1.1 billion, much less than the earlier forecast of $C9 billion.
Previous analysts' estimates, based on less precise data, had expected losses to dwarf previous records in Canadian history, including $C1.9 billion from the North American ice storm of 1998 and the Alberta floods of 2013.
RAIN NEEDED TO TAME 'BEAST'
Fire officials said that cooler weather had slowed the fire's spread. But its course remained unpredictable on Monday, and Alberta wildlife information officer Travis Fairweather said wind could have a big impact.
Illustrating its unpredictability, officials ordered the evacuation of two hamlets south of Fort McMurray, home to a combined population of 530 people, at midday. The orders were lifted less than an hour later.
Temperatures were lower, with a forecast high of 10degC, down from Sunday's high of 17degC. The cool weather was expected to linger through Thursday, according to Environment Canada. Still, much of the province of Alberta in western Canada is tinder-box dry after a mild winter and warm spring.
"This beast is so big, we need rain to fix it," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters.
Government weather forecasts show the first possibility of rain on Wednesday with a 30% chance.
Damage, while extensive, could be less costly than initially feared, according to data released on Monday.
The fire had expanded to within 40km of the border of Saskatchewan, the province east of Alberta, but was not expected to cross into the neighboring province, said Travis Fairweather, an Alberta wildlife information officer.
Officials said it was too early to know when the thousands of evacuees camped in nearby towns could go back to Fort McMurray, even if their homes were intact. The city's gas has been turned off, its power grid is damaged and the water is undrinkable.
Fort McMurray is the centre of Canada's oil sands region. About half of its crude output, or 1 million barrels per day, has been taken offline, according to a Reuters estimate.
Statoil ASA said it will suspend all production at its Leismer oil sands project in northern Alberta until midstream terminals needed to transport crude oil via pipeline reopen.
Its move followed shutdowns of Nexen Energy's Long Lake facility, Suncor Energy's base plant operations, the Syncrude project and Conoco Phillips' Surmont project.
Nearly all of Fort McMurray's residents escaped the fire safely, although two teenagers died in a car crash during the evacuation.
