WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says only a third of the structures damaged or destroyed at Ochre Beach will qualify for disaster financial assistance.
27 homes and cottages were smashed by ice driven off Dauphin Lake Friday. No one was hurt but some some structures were completely destroyed.
“It’s the kind of destruction you see once in a lifetime in an area like this,” Greg Selinger said Monday during a tour of the area in western Manitoba near Dauphin. As residents assessed the damage, Selinger noted that disaster relief is available only for year-round homes, not cottages.
“Disaster financial assistance program will be available for all homeowners those application forms are being made up as we speak they will be covered cottagers are a different situation,” Selinger said.
Meantime the province warns strong and gusty southerly winds forecast for Monday afternoon will result in a high risk of shoreline ice pileup on several lakes.
Lake Manitoba, Dauphin Lake, Lake Winnipegosis and Lake St. Martin face a high risk of shoreline ice pileup on the windward shores, while there’s a moderate-high risk of shoreline ice pileup on windward shores of Lake Winnipeg and Pelican Lake, the province says.
Selinger met with Reeve Clinton Cleave and toured Ochre Beach Monday morning. The small community on the shore of Dauphin Lake is facing a massive cleanup after ice flowed into homes and cabins in about 10 minutes on Friday evening, destroying and damaging more than two dozen.
Damage estimates won’t be available until ice is cleared away from the residences, severely damaged properties are shored up and assessments are conducted, the province said.
Clayton Watts, deputy reeve for the Rural Municipality of Ochre River, said some are concerned the community won’t survive as many residents completed renovations recently following flooding in 2011.
“Some people can’t do it twice in a row, obviously,” he said Monday morning.
Residents on the shores of the province’s large lakes should remain alert to weather conditions and monitor news media for warnings, the province said.
Comments