There are concerns that the community of Ochre Beach, Man., will be finished by the latest disaster to hit its residents.
A wall of ice that blew in off Dauphin Lake damaged homes and cabins that were recently renovated after flooding damaged them in 2011.
“There is a concern that, you know, we’re just not going to have this community here now,” said Clayton Watts, deputy reeve of the Rural Municipality of Ochre River. “Some people have mentioned if we do rebuild, we may be just lifting our homes and taking them away.”
It’s not clear whether insurance will cover the damage and the province hasn’t said whether it will make disaster financial assistance available.
Provincial emergency measures organization officials will be visiting the area on Monday to assess the damage, Watts said.
“Hopefully we can get some answers as to whether there’ll be any DFA (disaster financial assistance) help for them,” he said.
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Flooding caused major damage to the same properties in 2011 and many of the residents are retirees who could ill afford repairs after that disaster, Watts said.
“They couldn’t really afford before to fix a lot of these up,” he said. “It’s a big hit out of their budget and their retirement plans. … Some just don’t know how they’re going to survive.
“Some people can’t do it twice in a row, obviously.”
Many have homes or cabins that have been in their families for 30 or 40 years and they hoped to carry on a tradition of living in the area, Watts said.
The way people responded to the disaster — showing up with food, helping strangers, calling to offer help – shows why people would want the community to survive, he said.
“It is such a close community. It would be devastating for the municipality and for these folks.”
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