Council unanimously passed a resolution to start a relief fund for flood victims with an initial $500,000 to get the ball rolling.
Council took their first step in getting funding from the Ontario Disaster Relief program by passing the Thunder Bay Flood Disaster Relief Fund at Monday night’s meeting. The initial contribution of $500,000, taken from the reserved fund, will be a starting point once the Ontario government declares the city a disaster area. Following that announcement, the province will be able to match the city’s contribution on a two-for-one basis.
The resolution also included that a disaster relief committee be created as well in order to raise more funds for the flood victims.
Once the amount raised passes roughly $13.1 million the federal government will then step in and contribute through the province.
City manager Tim Commisso said they are still waiting for Ontario to make that declaration but added that the disaster relief team was in town and expected a report by next week.
“The $500,000 is an initial contribution from the city and it is absolutely not enough,” Commisso told council. “This fund is not intended for people with private insurance. It is for people who have no coverage or have inadequate coverage. We want to be in a position where the city supports this.”
He said he would like to have the city clerk return to council next week to put in place recommendations to have the committee up and running. The committee is independent of council and works full time to take in claims, follow the guidelines and payout, he said.
Typically, the payouts would be for residents who are not insured and doesn’t act as a replacement for insurance, he said.
The city treasure will handle donation requests and residents will be eligible for charitable receipts.
He added it’s important to turn the city’s focus on cleaning up and look at the possibility of bringing in professionals.
City infrastructure manager Darrell Matson also announced that one of the main pumps and 500 horsepower motor at the Atlantic Avenue treatment plant was running again. He said it was working well and continued to pump down the level of water.
“We know levels in the sewers are decreasing and the temporary pumping stations that we have established will be shutting down,” Matson said. “We will keep them in place until the time we can commission the other pumps. We’re shutting them down because the types of pumps used for pumping only draw water down so low. If you get to 22 to 23 feet, they become very inefficient. We actually below that level and staff were already shutting down the temporary pumping.”
He said the next step was getting one of the 800 horsepower units up and running. The goal is to take one unit out each week, service it, commission it and reinstall it, he said.
Despite having water conservation in affect, Matson said water usage hasn’t gone down as it is traditionally the season where people water their lawns and wash their vehicles.
He said as long as there’s some conservation then they don’t have to go to plan B, which is a far harsher method.
When asked by council when the plant would return to normal, Matson said he didn’t know.
“Every day we are making some small steps forward in terms of getting access to areas,” he said. “We continue to do our damage assessments and evaluations in terms of what have to be done to bring that plant up to its normal operating conditions. That’s not just the pumping station that’s all the treatment stations.”
Health unit environmental health programs manager Christopher Beveridge also went before council and reported that there are 10 confirmed cases of respiration symptoms over the weekend in connection to living in a flooded home.
Beveridge wasn’t sure what types of symptoms but said they are receiving reports of illnesses.
“Avoid as much as possible contact with contaminated items understandably it is difficult to do,” Beveridge said. “The evacuation centres are set up so people can minimize their risk but we have also assembled public health inspectors and teams to go out and assist people on how to clean up.”
He added that from what he saw the cleanup is being well organized.
