Flooded communities in northwest now eligible for Ontario disaster recovery funding
CBC
The province will provide disaster recovery financial assistance to northwestern Ontario communities where spring flooding has damaged homes, buildings and infrastructure in recent weeks.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced Thursday the aid applies to the Rainy River district and parts of the Kenora district.
In a news release, the ministry said heavy precipitation and snow melt are behind the flooding, which has affected areas including Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Kenora, Ignace and Ear Falls.
Northwestern Ontario is among areas of Canada, including the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, that have been dealing with significant flooding.
In northwestern Ontario, in April and May, there was three times the precipitation compared to the same time last year, according to the ministry.
The disaster assistance program applies to primary residences, small businesses, farms and non-profit organizations. It can help with costs associated with clean-up, repairs or replacing essential items not covered by insurance.
Residents without insurance, or whose insurance doesn't cover essential costs, have until Oct. 7 to apply for assistance, the ministry said.
More information is available on the ministry's website.
Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance praised Thursday's provincial announcement.
"It's just wonderful," he said. "Staff have been communicating with the ministry for four weeks to try and get this activated, so we're very grateful.
"People who have limited insurance or no insurance, this is an avenue of hope for them, too, to be able to get some financial relief," he said. "To me, it doesn't matter if it's two, 20 or 200 households, it's a disaster no matter how many for the people impacted."
Lawrance said the floodwaters in Sioux Lookout have been receding about an inch (about 2.5 cm) per day over the last five or six days. However, whether that will continue remains to be seen.
"I think it largely depends on whether there's precipitation here and upstream in the watershed," Lawrence said. "I don't know whether it'll continue or not. There's lots of factors impacting it that we don't know."
Lawrance said 20 to 30 households have been evacuated due to the flooding, as was Sioux Lookout's largest hotel, which also has residential suites.
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