Flood victims displaced from their homes could have a tough time finding a place to stay as hotels begin to fill up, says the city manager.
Hundreds packed into the Slovak Legion and Moose Hall on Saturday for the first public meeting with city officials since the flooding disaster that hit the city last week. The reception was anything but warm for city officials as flood victims quickly took to the microphones to voice their frustrations over the handling of the emergency.
The city has confirmed 450 people with no insurance have come forward to ask for assistance in cleaning up by using the flood hotline number at 983-5663. The full scope of the number of houses impacted by the flooding still isn’t known but is expected to continue to rise and even go well into the thousands.
City manager Tim Commisso said one insurance company alone has dealt with 450 claims to date. He said he understood the frustration people must be feeling but they are stilling try to grasp the full scope of the problem and wanted to remind everyone to be patient.
But finding a place to stay is becoming an issue.
“We’re seeing the numbers increase,” Commisso said on Sunday at a media conference.
“We’re asking people if at all possible not to be in their homes but the reality is that accommodations are becoming an issue. Hotels are full and we’re seeing other things. We’re looking at other options where people can move out of their homes but not necessarily moving into the Neebing Arena shelter. We’ll be looking into that today and tomorrow and hopefully I`ll be able to announce something.”
He said the scale of the problem continues to increase daily and there’s still no idea what kind of costs the city is going to have. He estimated that the cost would be well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Around 60 people have registered at the Neebing Arena shelter but most use it as a way to shower and use water since it’s not connected to the city’s waterway, he said.
Fire Chief John Hay said the recovery strategy is starting to take shape. Firefighters have been going into people’s homes and off duty firefighters have formed their own teams to help people.
Hay said they will be going into more neighbourhoods starting Monday and will be focusing efforts in the East End as well as the intercity area.
Hay said at the public meeting they found out that many residents have property owners. He urged that landlords and owners who have tenants who are impacted by the flood to be more available.
“You should be here,” Hay said. “You should not be an absent landlord at this time. This is a time for you to stand up and help. You have some responsibilities to it. They pay rent. We don’t mind helping anybody in need but if there’s a landlord tenant relationship that one should be honoured also.”
St. Peter’s Catholic Church spokeswoman Lisa French also spoke at the conference and said they wouldn’t be taking any more donations and would be letting the Canadian Red Cross and the Salvation Army handle matters from now on.
French said they have met their short-term goal of providing immediate assistance to all flood victims in need with the long-term goal slowly shifting more responsibly to the larger organizations. She said they will gradually reduce hours starting Monday.
“Full meal services will no longer be provided by St. Peter’s,” French said. “However, the Salvation Army meal van will be station outside the property. Our hours will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the Salvation Army will provide lunch assistance from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. We will provide assistance from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the Salvation Army from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. “
French wanted to thank everyone who helped and added that the support from the community was overwhelming. French especially wanted to thank Father Terry for all his contributions.
Anyone who wishes to donate can do so by giving to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.
City infrastructure manager Darrell Matson also gave a general update on the infrastructure of the city.
He said they are still trying to find the leak at the Atlantic Avenue Sewage Treatment Plant and described the water coming in as a healthy flow.
“We’re not too close at this point in time to figuring out what went wrong,” Matson said. “We’re still dewatering that particular area of the plant that we’re pumping out. We do know there’s still water entering the plant. We have that section segregated from the rest of the plant so it doesn’t impact the other parts of the facility.”
Staff plan to use underwater cameras to try and pinpoint where the leak is, he said.
The sewage plant pump station has been cleaned down to the motor level. Now that the plant is clean, staff can now install the 500-horse power motor.
Matson said staff are looking at developing a plan to install the motor for tomorrow. He said it is significant because they will attempt to get that station up and running.
The delay is because staff were preparing the downstream sites of that facility to accept the sewage being pumped out of the wet wells, he said.
Staff will also remove another motor and send it to a repair depot.
Kline Road has reopened as well as most trails. Waste collection at the Solid Waste and Recycling Facility on Mapleward Road will be open on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The city is also providing unlimited number of bags for garbage collection and free of charge rubbish collection that’s available by calling 625-2195.
Acting mayor Rebecca Johnson said the city is still in an emergency that’s increasing and the issues have changed. What the city has to do is to continue to look at the situation, she said.
“We have to continue to conserve water,” Johnson said. “People still need help. We have heard what the community had to say yesterday. It was very an emotional time for a lot of people. It was also emotional for the people working around this table. We have many organizations in our community that are working on a daily basis at 24-hour time periods trying to address the issues.”
Johnson said she`ll be bringing up many of the issues including forming an committee to administer an emergency relief fund at city council Monday night.
