593 claims filed

Kari Chiappetta has had a busy few days.

The manager of the Thunder Bay and Area Disaster Relief Fund said they received nearly 400 claims in the final three days before Wednesday’s Halloween deadline, upping the total number of claims to 593.

Chiappetta called it a really rough count at this point.

“It’s about what we thought we would be getting,” she said. “This week alone we received 369 of those. So in three days we had 369 claims come through. It’s been extremely busy this week. We had lineups out the door yesterday until 5:45 p.m.”

The deadline to file was 4:30 p.m., but with so many victims of the May 28 flood and sewage back-up disaster waiting to file, she said there was no way they could close their doors on time.

Chiappetta said she has no idea what the number of claims will mean for the amount the committee needs to fundraise to pay eligible ones out, so for now they’re sticking with the original $5 million goal, an amount the province would triple through two-for-one funding through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program. 

After taking a cursory look at the claim forms, Chiapetta said they range anywhere from $1,000 to $85,000.

She estimated it will take about two months or more to vet the claims and begin paying them out. The deadline to donate to the fund has been extended until Jan. 31.