By Ernest Scheyder
LAC LA BICHE, Alberta, May 13 (Reuters) - Canadian PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau on Friday saw the devastation caused bya wildfire that tore through the Alberta town of Fort McMurrayand forced several oil sands operations to shut.
The inferno is the first natural disaster to confrontTrudeau, whose Liberals took power in November. He promises thefederal government will do everything it can to help in arebuilding effort likely to take years.
"The people of Fort McMurray have been through so much andare still standing strong," Trudeau said via Twitter. "I'mlooking forward to visiting and being with you today."
He was seen on television boarding a helicopter in the town for an aerial tour.
Trudeau has faced criticism in Alberta, a province that doesnot usually vote for his party, for waiting more than a week tosurvey the damage. The prime minister has said he did not wanthis visit to interfere with firefighting efforts.
"I think it's a good thing he's coming," said Fort McMurrayhousekeeper Maureen Pearce at a supply center for evacuees inLac La Biche, Alberta. "I hope he provides more aid."
After touring the most damaged areas, Trudeau will hold anews conference with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley at 5:15 p.m.ET (2115 GMT) in the provincial capital of Edmonton.
The 88,000 people who were evacuated hurriedly as the towncaught fire are living in temporary accommodation across theprovince while authorities work to restore power, gas, water andcommunications.
Local officials say it will be 10 days before they can evenproduce a plan for resettlement, much less allow people toreturn to a place where small fires are still erupting.
Pearce, who believes both her Fort McMurray home and thehotel where she works survived the fire, said emergency fundsfrom the Alberta government are helpful.
"But if we're going to be out of our homes for a month,we'll need more."
Evacuees are collecting this week Alberta debit cards loadedwith C$1,250 ($966) per adult and C$500 per dependent, as wellas Canadian Red Cross aid of C$600 for each adult and C$300 foreach child.
The wildfire knocked out nearly half, or 1.07 millionbarrels per day (bpd), of Alberta's oil sands capacity. Theeffort to restart projects is progressing slowly.
A spokesman for the Alberta Energy Regulator said it hadfour staff in the Fort McMurray region and more traveling thereon Friday. They will visit oil sands sites and help operatorssafely move toward restarting production.
Four major oil firms operating in the area around FortMcMurray have now declared force majeure, a contract clause toremove liability for unavoidable catastrophes.
The fire spans 241,000 hectares (596,000 acres), growingmuch more slowly than before. The Canadian military, which hadprovided transport planes and helicopters, said on Thursday theaircraft would start returning home.
Around 350 soldiers though will remain on a state ofheightened readiness. (With additional reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary and RodNickel in Winnipeg; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing byCynthia Osterman)
