York Region awaits word on disaster zone status

YorkRegion.com
January 13, 2014
By Sean Pearce

The Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Ministry has received York Region’s request for help with cleaning up after December’s destructive ice storm and is considering whether or not it will declare some or all of the GTA a disaster zone.

Beyond York, the ministry also received similar council resolutions from several other municipalities hit by the storm and is aware of other towns and cities with meetings planned, explained Mike Maka, a spokesperson for Minister Linda Jeffrey’s office.

The ministry will review the communications it receives and assess the projected expenses associated with undoing the storm’s damage, he continued.

“There is a process, but it varies depending on the extent of the damage,” Mr. Maka said. “There’s no set timeline.”

The ministries of health, community and social services, community safety and correctional services, natural resources and transportation have been working with local officials and providing assistance to people in need, Ms Jeffrey said.

“Our Ministry has been engaged with all affected municipalities and is closely monitoring the situation,” she said. “At this time we understand Toronto is the seventh council to have voted on a motion asking for their municipality to be declared a disaster area and there are additional municipalities, including Richmond Hill and Hamilton, that have called special meetings to review motions.”

While a handful of disasters have led to funds flowing immediately under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program, such as the tornado that hit Goderich in 2011, those are special cases, Mr. Maka said.

The most likely course of action in relation to last month’s ice storm will be for municipalities to simply proceed with cleanup work and receive reimbursement if a disaster area declaration occurs, he said, noting there are many blanks still to be filled in with respect to the extent of damage and cost of putting it right.

Depending on the overall toll, the province may seek federal help, but it’s too early to say for sure, he added.

At last check, the running tally for the cost of cleaning up after the storm rang in at $250 million for the GTA as a whole, with nearly half that figure assigned to Toronto alone. No York Region-wide total has been determined as of yet, but Markham, for example, estimates its costs are in the neighbourhood of $13 million.

York Regional council voted to request assistance from the ministry at a special session last week.