The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has assured residents affected by the floods that hit the region during Thanksgiving that they are working on getting more cheques out to families.
One displaced family told
CBC News that they’d received a $1,000 cheque two weeks ago, but hadn’t seen or heard of any more financial aid since.
However, Christina Lamey, executive assistant to the mayor, said officials are working to get another $1,000 to those who’ve received cheques already, and that people who received no-occupancy orders since that round of cheques will receive $2,000 this time.
Lamey said each family is being contacted directly to make arrangements to deliver the cheques, adding: “The first round happened very quickly… Our feeling is that there’s an urgency for these situations to be settled as soon as possible.”
Terry Drohan said he received a call on Sunday confirming his cheque would be available on Monday after his family had to abandon their home.
“It was actually five minutes before a homeowners meeting in my area,” he told CBC. “It’s a minimal amount but it’s appreciated. It’s certainly not enough to cover our expense.”
He said that in the early days of the disaster, “we were told to just do whatever you have to do to find long-term accommodations,” but now that message had changed.
He and others displaced by the flood are being told to find new places to live within a budget of about $1,000 per home, plus $150 for each family member, he said, describing the situation as “extremely difficult.”
“It’s a bit of a concern because everyone involved here is trying to manage their days with insurance companies and inspectors and environmental agencies coming into our homes,” Drohan said. “We are still actively looking for places to stay.”
Lamey said that about 30 homes are on a no-occupancy list, with the majority in Sydney, N.S, some in nearby Glace Bay and one in New Waterford.
She added that another priority has been to get heat flowing through homes before winter, adding that the project has taken priority this past week to prevent more families from being displaced as temperatures drop.
“Shortly after the storm it became clear that a number of people, their home was generally OK… They pumped out the basements and everything but the heating system in the home was knocked out.”
“Those are very expensive systems to replace,” she said. “For many people we can’t wait for the disaster financial assistance program to go through that process.”
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