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More than 200 people crowded into a room and overflowed into a hallway in the community hardest hit by the flooding in Ottawa to applaud volunteers who helped fill sandbags and organize efforts to assist those whose homes were inundated by water.
Residents of Constance Bay asked questions about what to do with sandbags, whether they could have more port-a-pottys and if the province’s disaster fund would cover them if they declined overland flood insurance, but didn’t allow the meeting to descend into anger or complaints about how it was handled, even though many of them lost their homes as a result of the flooding.
It was a tone unlike the one at a meeting in Cumberland, where frustrations boiled over with residents angry about what they believed to be a lack of support and flood planning.
“Tonight we can not focus on a post mortem of what happened,” said West Carleton Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, who himself had a property flooded on Bayview Drive.
Local resident Casey Cavanaugh has had five pumps running around the clock in his home to keep the water from overflowing it. He seemed exhausted as the meeting went on for a couple of hours. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
The main floor of Jeff Smith’s house is under four inches of water, but he didn’t complain, even though his insurance won’t cover him.
“I try not to think too much about it,” he said.
It was the second time he’s lost his home. Sixteen years ago, his house burned down.
“I’m living from day-to-day. I don’t have savings or anything like that,” he said. “And here I am, starting over again.”
One of the main purposes of the meeting was to provide information about the Disaster Recovery Assistance program run by Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The program provides up to $250,000 for losses not covered by insurance, but comes with a catch – the property must be a primary residence, and not a cottage or a rental. Only certain types of items are covered to a maximum of 90 per cent of loss and their is a deductible of $500 for claims. It does cover emergency evacuation and living expenses, although there are caps on the amount of coverage for anything covered by the program.
Local mother Ashley Weaver (centre, with her five-week-old son, Malcolm) dozed off a couple of times during the meeting and seemed to typify the exhaustion everyone seemed to be feeling. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
The fund only covers “essential” areas of the home and doesn’t cover non-primary areas of the home or items like electronics or lawn mowers, said Kent Fitzhugh, an advisor with the ministry of municipal affairs.
Resident Kathy Black said the fund’s criteria appeared to exclude those who declined overland fund insurance. Fitzhugh didn’t have an answer about whether residents would be covered or not if they declined that coverage.
It also doesn’t cover landlords, which disappointed Ron Hoelscher, whose rental property has a crawl space now filled with water.
“Of course it’s frustrating but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
The community centre in Constance Bay was filled to capacity Wednesday (May 10, 2017) night for an information meeting on the flooding situation. More than 200 residents heard from mayor Jim Watson (centre), local councillor Eli El-Chantiry and others about what’s next. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Mayor Jim Watson told residents there would be daily garbage pick-up in the community as the clean-up got under way and that property taxes are being deferred until December for those affected by the flood.
Watson added more than 2,000 volunteers had registered with the city to help with the clean-up.
Residents also heard from Michael Sarich from the Ottawa River Regulation Secretariat, who warned them water will remain high for several weeks.
aseymour@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
Residents of Constance Bay asked questions about what to do with sandbags, whether they could have more port-a-pottys and if the province’s disaster fund would cover them if they declined overland flood insurance, but didn’t allow the meeting to descend into anger or complaints about how it was handled, even though many of them lost their homes as a result of the flooding.
It was a tone unlike the one at a meeting in Cumberland, where frustrations boiled over with residents angry about what they believed to be a lack of support and flood planning.
“Tonight we can not focus on a post mortem of what happened,” said West Carleton Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, who himself had a property flooded on Bayview Drive.
Local resident Casey Cavanaugh has had five pumps running around the clock in his home to keep the water from overflowing it. He seemed exhausted as the meeting went on for a couple of hours. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
The main floor of Jeff Smith’s house is under four inches of water, but he didn’t complain, even though his insurance won’t cover him.
“I try not to think too much about it,” he said.
It was the second time he’s lost his home. Sixteen years ago, his house burned down.
“I’m living from day-to-day. I don’t have savings or anything like that,” he said. “And here I am, starting over again.”
One of the main purposes of the meeting was to provide information about the Disaster Recovery Assistance program run by Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The program provides up to $250,000 for losses not covered by insurance, but comes with a catch – the property must be a primary residence, and not a cottage or a rental. Only certain types of items are covered to a maximum of 90 per cent of loss and their is a deductible of $500 for claims. It does cover emergency evacuation and living expenses, although there are caps on the amount of coverage for anything covered by the program.
Local mother Ashley Weaver (centre, with her five-week-old son, Malcolm) dozed off a couple of times during the meeting and seemed to typify the exhaustion everyone seemed to be feeling. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
The fund only covers “essential” areas of the home and doesn’t cover non-primary areas of the home or items like electronics or lawn mowers, said Kent Fitzhugh, an advisor with the ministry of municipal affairs.
Resident Kathy Black said the fund’s criteria appeared to exclude those who declined overland fund insurance. Fitzhugh didn’t have an answer about whether residents would be covered or not if they declined that coverage.
It also doesn’t cover landlords, which disappointed Ron Hoelscher, whose rental property has a crawl space now filled with water.
“Of course it’s frustrating but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
The community centre in Constance Bay was filled to capacity Wednesday (May 10, 2017) night for an information meeting on the flooding situation. More than 200 residents heard from mayor Jim Watson (centre), local councillor Eli El-Chantiry and others about what’s next. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Mayor Jim Watson told residents there would be daily garbage pick-up in the community as the clean-up got under way and that property taxes are being deferred until December for those affected by the flood.
Watson added more than 2,000 volunteers had registered with the city to help with the clean-up.
Residents also heard from Michael Sarich from the Ottawa River Regulation Secretariat, who warned them water will remain high for several weeks.
aseymour@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
