May 7, 2012
Help for Municipalities, New Staff to Aid Largest Flood-recovery Effort Since 1950
– – –Multi-year Plan Will Help Families Get Their Lives Back to Normal: Ashton
With the ice now off Lake Manitoba, the provincial government has hired eight new appraisers to assess flood-damaged property and 14 other new staff to help process flood claims for property owners around Lake Manitoba, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton, minister responsible for emergency measures, announced today.
“Last year’s flood is not yet over for a lot of families. Many Manitobans still can’t go back to their homes,” said Ashton. “This is the largest recovery effort Manitoba has taken on since 1950 and it’s going to be a multi-year process. These new staff will help keep things moving forward and join the more than 100 people already working to process claims for flood-affected families.”
The minister noted that, so far, more than 30,000 flood claims have been filed, triple the number of the 1997 flood, and the province has paid out more than $650 million in compensation to flood‑affected Manitobans.
Help for Municipalities
The minister also announced new assistance for municipalities.
“We know the past year has been a challenging one for municipalities as they work to rebuild. But we will be there to work with them, each step of the way,” said Ashton.
New assistance includes:
- a new, one-time grant for a municipal tax credit to relieve some of the financial burden on municipalities in flood-damaged regions including Alonsa, Ochre River, Siglunes, St. Laurent, Grahamdale, Coldwell and Lawrence; and
- a new commitment to cover 90 per cent of the $1.7-million cost for the City of Brandon’s flood preparation work done in advance of the 2011 flood.
Rebuilding and Recovery for Property Owners
The minister noted the Lake Manitoba Regulation Review Committee has been tasked with providing recommendations for the most reliable long-term flood-protection levels and operating ranges for Lake Manitoba.
“We understand that people want to move ahead with rebuilding this spring and summer after the unprecedented flooding that completely overwhelmed the one-in-100-year flood protection along the shores of Lake Manitoba,” said Ashton.
For those wanting to rebuild this spring before the committee submits its recommendations, the province has a long‑standing policy to build flood protection to the levels of record, as was done in the Red River Valley.
The province has already committed to helping people living around the lake flood proof their farms, homes and cottages including covering the majority of the costs of raising, moving or diking their structures, said Ashton.
Flood Proofing and Infrastructure Repair
Manitoba’s recovery plan also includes inspecting provincial infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water-control structures like dikes and dams. The resulting repairs or replacements are expected to cost between $100 million and $150 million, Ashton said.
“The geographical scope of the 2011 flood was beyond anything we’ve ever seen before in Manitoba,” he said. “The flood created a tremendous strain on our existing flood-mitigation structures and we are already working to repair the damage.”
Repair work continues on the Assiniboine River dikes, which the 2011 flood heavily damaged. A comprehensive engineering assessment is underway to determine the full extent of repairs required. Approximately $8 million in repairs from flood damage are required to the Portage Diversion with $3 million completed to date.
Other flood-proofing initiatives include:
- completing the $13.2-million Ralls Island community flood-protection project near The Pas;
- funding for a $30-million Community Flood Protection Program; and
- engineering inspections of emergency and temporary dikes in the rural municipalities of Coldwell, East St. Paul, Grahamdale, Siglunes, St. Clements, St. Laurent and West St. Paul, and Duck Bay, Melita, Souris, Waterhen, Wawanesa and Winnipegosis.
The minister noted that Budget 2012 includes $50 million towards repairing flood-damaged roads and bridges across the province. Most recently, Manitoba spent $1.5 million to repair PR 229 after it was closed for almost a year due to the record flood level of the Shoal Lakes. The roadway was raised approximately one metre to exceed record flood levels seen last summer.
The province has also worked to restore flood-fighting equipment inventories to ensure they are available in the event of future floods including flood tubes and Aquadams, pumps and hoses for flood-response trailers and more than two million sandbags. The province also spent $1.2 million this year for a new enhanced Amphibex icebreaking machine to add to its ice-jam mitigation fleet.
The 2011 flood recovery is expected to cost $1 billion.
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