East-end residents whose properties were damaged by an EF-1 tornado that blew across Orléans earlier this month are getting some financial relief from the City of Ottawa as they work to rebuild.
Ottawa city council voted on Wednesday to have the municipal planning department waive certain types of permit fees for those affected residents. The order covers fees for demolition permits, building permits and replacement civic number blades, as well as the costs of accessing historic building permit records.
The tornado hit Orléans suddenly the evening of of June 2, lifting roofs, uprooting trees and damaging cars in its path. Many of the homes struck are located close to the Ottawa River.
The twister developed on the other side of the water, southeast of the Gatineau Airport, before crossing over and travelling through east Ottawa and into Prescott and Russell.
The tornado on June 2 was the latest of several major weather disasters Ottawa has endured in recent months and the second tornado event to hit the capital in the past year.
On Sept. 21, 2018, two more destructive tornadoes tore through Dunrobin and Nepean, in Ottawa’s west end. Many of the residents in those communities are still working through insurance claims and rebuilding their homes, some of which were completely destroyed.
The tornado in Orléans also occurred the same weekend the city launched its first widespread push to take down more than a million sandbags installed in the areas hardest hit by the devastating flooding this spring.
Mayor Jim Watson on Wednesday only lifted the state of emergency it declared in response to the floods on April 25.