Huntsville saw an unusual amount of extreme weather activity this year, from above average snowfall to tornadoes to a storm that dumped more than 100mm of rain on the area in less than six hours.
That last weather event caused extensive damage to local roads, sidewalks and culverts when the deluge overwhelmed the Town’s drainage system.
According to a report presented to Huntsville’s General Committee on September 27, there were 10 major roadway washouts, two major culvert failures and three different sections of sidewalk that were washed out, along with hundreds of calls from local residents for shoulder repairs, ditching issues and entrance culvert washouts.
Shortly after the rain stopped, contractors were brought in to help Town staff open and repair damaged roads. The estimated cost of repairs is currently $658,000, but more evidence of storm damage has appeared in recent weeks as roads that were undermined by water flows are now failing.
As there are no capital funds available to cover those unbudgeted costs, Town staff investigated the possibility of applying to the provincial Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program to offset the cost of repairs.
To be eligible, a municipality must have experienced a sudden, unexpected and extraordinary natural disaster, and it must have incurred costs related to the disaster that exceed regular budgets and that are greater than three per cent of its tax levy. The Town has up to 120 days from the date of the disaster to submit a claim.
If (all of the repairs) are deemed eligible for funding assistance, we could receive $544,000 in assistance. That still leaves us with $114,000 in unbudgeted expenditures. Hopefully that’s the good news picture.
Steve Hernen, the Town’s Director of Operations and Protective Services
Committee unanimously granted permission for staff to apply for financial assistance from the Ministry.
In August, the Town gathered information from affected residents via a survey. That information has been submitted to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said Yvonne Aubichon, Huntsville’s Director of Corporate Services. As of today, the Town has not yet received a reply on whether the Ministry will activate its Disaster Recovery Assistance program for those who incurred property damage as a result of the storm.
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Our work crews have done a superlative job of fixing all these washouts. Our roads will be better for this work.
I’m happy to see some higher government level funding come our way to help too, although one must remember that these funds really just come from a different pocket of the same tax payer at the end of the day.
I’m a bit embarrassed to call our rain event a “disaster”. I think the folks in the Texas Gulf coast and in Florida or all those”islands in paradise” might consider our rainfall event to be a little less than a disaster. Maybe we could come up with a more appropriate name for it.