Nova Scotia offers homeowners, businesses financial assistance for uninsurable damage

Basic recovery assistance will be available to homeowners, business owners and not-for-profit organizations in central Nova Scotia affected by flooding in the wake of heavy rains on Sept. 9 to 11 that accompanied Tropical Storm Leslie.

Leslie made landfall in Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula on the morning of Sept. 11, causing flooding in parts of the Atlantic provinces. In Nova Scotia, two rivers overflowed in Truro.

The financial assistance plan – which covers uninsurable damage in Colchester, Cumberland, Hants and Pictou counties and Halifax Regional Municipality – will cost about $2.6 million, notes a statement from Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office (EMO).

Available funds will reflect new caps for disaster financial assistance, MLA Lenore Zann notes on behalf of Ross Landry, minister responsible for the EMO. The previous $50,000 cap applied to homeowners, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. The new maximum amount for people and small businesses is $80,000, and $200,000 for not-for-profit organizations.

Claims information and application forms are available at emo.gov.ns.ca and at Access Nova Scotia centres.

“Times have changed, and it’s more expensive to make repairs,” Zann says. “I have met with families who lost their furnaces and other appliances in this flooding. Now they should have help before the winter sets in.”

Ron Cavanaugh, deputy mayor of Colchester County, says he was on the ground during the flooding on Sept. 10. “I saw a lot of damage, and I believe this program and the increased cap will be a great help to people.”

On Sept. 28, Premier Darrell Dexter pointed out that flooding is a persistent problem in central Nova Scotia. “We need to fix the infrastructure we have now, and look at what new infrastructure we need, to fix this problem for the long-term,” Dexter said.

The premier announced at that time that mayors and the province have agreed to establish a joint working group to address the issues of flooding, flood infrastructure and the impact of global warming in the Truro area.