By Pepper Parr
August 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
They have been a God send said Red Cross volunteer Peter Hodgson –and indeed the Samaritan’s Purse has been just that to many homes in Burlington. Work crews have gone into homes that needed work done and sucked up the water and torn out dry wall and have then gone back in and sprayed with mould inhibitor.
They have been the front line people, doing more for the citizens than either the region or city. Samaritan’s Purse Canada is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that has been providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world since 1970. They partner with local organizations (usually churches) to provide compassionate and cost-effective assistance to anyone who needs it, regardless of religion, race, gender or socio-economic standing.
Water seeped into basements and mixed with backup from the sewage system destroying everything. For many homes the August flood was preceded by flooding in May – it is more than these people can take.
Their emergency relief programs provide desperately needed assistance to victims of natural disaster, war, disease, and famine. They offer food, water, and temporary shelter, and meet critical needs and give people a chance to rebuild their lives.
Burlington seems to be getting more help from outside groups than they are getting from either the city or the Region. There are some homes that are a serious health issue and to the best of our knowledge the Medical Officer of Health, who is required by the province to oversee the health of the community hasn’t had anyone anywhere in Burlington.
Residents are fending for themselves or getting help from outside groups like the Red Cross and Samaritan`s purse and the fire fighters.
The public donations have been coming in – not anywhere near what is going to be needed. The tally as of Wednesday at 5:00 pm was $128,160.
Hodgson reports that more than 7100 homes have been checked out by the Red Cross Volunteers and that 2000 damaged homes were reported to the Region`s 311 number.
It is apparently still not possible to determine exactly how many homes have been damaged and the extent of the damage. However Hodgson did say that there were 40 to 50 homes that were in desperate shape.
The Red Cross has between 15 and 20 teams of people out on the street doing their door to door work and then plotting it all on maps. Hodgson`s task is to oversee the assessment of the damage and send that up the command chain; something Hodgson understands well from his years as a Halton Regional Police officer. He retired as a Staff Sargent – we erroneously reported Hodgson was a Superintendent. Hodgson said he would cheerfully take the pension of a Superintendent.
Household effects are piled in corners – as far away from the flood waters as possible.
Community groups are doing their own work as well. A collective has been formed in ward 5; they’ve named themselves the Burlington Sewer Backup Victims Coalition BSBVC. Their web site sets out who they are and what they have had to put up with. These people are not happy campers and have major beefs with the Region, who don’t seem to be paying any attention to their problems. And those problems are severe.
On August 4, some residents were still rebuilding after a back-up in May, some haven’t received insurance money from that flood.
Sewer back-ups they are aware of in homes have ranged from 1 inch to approximately 10 feet
Some residents have been experiencing these back-ups for years and despite multiple reports, the region and city have failed to show the political will to address known root causes and ignored the need to enact preventative measures .
“We are inviting first-timers, repeat victims or just concerned citizens to join us as we unite to force the City and Region to finally act. We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to do that but we still have plenty left to lose.” Maui Groff, Joanne Karaiskakis and Michelle Peronne-Bonavita all delegated at city council when the disaster area resolution was passed. That bit of legalese doesn`t seem to have done anything for the people in ward 5 who meet regularly to keep each other up to date. We will report on their meetings for you.
They are working with people in the White Pines, Bridlewood/Idlewood. Foxbar and Meadow Hill communities.
