By Kristine Laco of Mum Revised

With the tragedies of Fort McMurray in the rebuilding stages and members of the community finally being able to return to see the devastation, there is one tragedy that has gone unreported.

The wildfires contributed to an area internet outage which proved responsible for SnapChat streaks ending for Fort McMurray teens. “I am so sad that I wasn’t able to send betthany_91_oh_my a picture of me running from my burning house,” stated candi_with_an_i, a visibly shaken member of the vigil. “She will totally disown me. I don’t know if we can ever be friends again after this.” She then joined the others to take pictures of her sorrow.

This was a common theme among the 4000+ teens who assembled amongst the rubble in the town square. They had all lost their possessions, their homes, and their streaks. “I had worked a whole year, every day, to get my 207-day streak with phil01youknow, and it will take an entire year to get it back. Who has the time for that?” area resident youngmoney03 explained.

The crowd was surprisingly quiet during the sit-in. All the teens had a candle app on their phone and would alternately hold it up high and then look into the glowing screen to see if anyone had taken a picture of them for SnapChat or Instagram while they mourned the friendships lost.

“I was practicing my sad face all week at the shelter,” hotgerlblond commented. She then asked if this reporter could capture her remorse for her profile picture. “I want everyone to know that the streaks ending were not my fault,” she added. “Maybe, just maybe, they will understand.”

So far rescue efforts have been unhelpful, with the internet available only to one small section of the devastated town. Most teens are resigned to living in the open square until their parents can get this mess of their houses taken care of and get the Wi-Fi restored.

Our thoughts are with the residents of Fort McMurray.

Related Post: Woman Remembers Password on First Try, Is Hospitalized for Tests

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About the Author

Kristine Laco shares her stories at MumRevised.com with a splash of sarcasm and a pinch of bitch. She lives in the Toronto area and is a stay-at-home mother of two kids aged 14 and 12 and a fur-baby. Her middle finger is her favorite. You can find more from her on Facebook and Twitter.