A provincial government official is assessing some of the aftermath of flood damage affecting Windsor, Tecumseh and Lakeshore today.
Tim Ryall, municipal advisor with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, says a disaster assessment team is set to arrive on Monday to formally determine the scope of damage in the area.
He stresses residents dealing with the fallout of heavy rains should keep a paper trail.
"If you have suffered some type of loss and you're trying to remediate that loss we encourage people to keep track of their costs and expenses for a potential future claim," says Ryall.
The inspectors that are sent out will go wherever they're need to get a proper sense of the damage. The assessment is expected to last the day before the team reports back to the ministry.
"We will be — with people's approval — viewing some of their homes to have a better sense of the damage they've suffered," says Ryall.
The assessment team will help the ministry decide whether residents in the area qualify for disaster relief funding or not. Ryall says if residents do qualify for relief funding, they'll have about four months to apply. The Disaster Recover Assistance for Ontarians program would help those residents without insurance.
Mayors of the affected communities, including Drew Dilkens of Windsor, are hoping — and expecting — residents will be able to access disaster relief funding.
"We've had a series of [damaging] storms since 2011, and that has made a lot of home owners ineligible [for insurance]," says Dilkens. "The insurance companies aren't even offering them back-up or flood insurance anymore, and those are the folks that we're reaching out to."
Dilkens says, in the meantime, Windsor's sewer systems are back to normal levels, and 311 call lines continue to be open as the city tracks areas hit by the rain storm.
— With files from Mike VlasveldLIVE on #Periscope: Joint city and town news conference underway in Tecumseh regarding flooding in the region #sxhttps://t.co/QIbLUlcz0R
— Ricardo Veneza (@RicardoVeneza) September 30, 2016
