Central Ontario township hit by flooding seeks disaster declaration

The Township of Ramara, a community east of Lake Simcoe and about 80 km north of Toronto, is calling on Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs to declare the flood-damaged part of the township a disaster area.

“If the minister does declare, the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) will be available to affected permanent residents,” Mayor Bill Duffy noted in an open letter last week.

ODRAP “is intended to ease the hardship suffered by private homeowners, farmers, small business enterprises and non-profit organizations, whose essential property has been damaged in a sudden and unexpected disaster, such as a severe windstorm, tornado, flood, forest fire or ice storm,” notes information from the ministry.

The program provides funds to those who have sustained heavy losses for essential items, such as shelter and the necessities of life. Assistance is provided “when damages are so extensive that they exceed the financial resources of the affected individuals, the municipality and community at large.”

Duffy has called on affected residents to fill out a survey by May 6 to detail preliminary estimates of damage. The survey asks the following:

• if personal or business property is located in an affected area;
• if the damaged property is a residential dwelling, farm, small business or non-profit organization;
• if the losses are covered by insurance; and
• whether or not an insurance claim has been filed.

The survey also requires the individual to fill out a damage report. The plan is to tally the individual estimates and submit total estimated damages to the ministry by May 8.

On April 21, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services reported that seven communities in central Ontario had declared emergencies. In the hardest hit areas, field officers with Emergency Management Ontario have been deployed and are working to ensure municipalities had the support they need, the ministry noted at the time.

The Township of Ramara declared a state of emergency in April and terminated the declaration April 29 as the flood waters continued to subside. Acknowledging the efforts of volunteers and the Red Cross, acting Mayor Marilyn Brooks said, “We were able to respond to all of those affected by the flooding. Council has now turned their focus fully to recovery.”

The report outlining damage estimates will be sent to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing within days of the kick-off of this year’s Emergency Preparedness Week. The annual event coordinated by Public Safety Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories and partners, runs each year during the first full week of May.