Most people in Ontario and Quebec quickly moved on from the mayhem caused by a major windstorm that pummeled the country’s most populated corridor in May.
Linda Leger is not one of them.
Leger, who lives in the eastern Ontario municipality of Prescott-Russell, is among a number of people battling with insurance companies over storm repair costs and facing the looming winter with severe damage to their homes.
When the derecho hit May 21, the chimney collapsed onto the roof of Leger’s home and debris from downed trees blew through her propane inserts severely damaging her home’s heating system.
The high winds — which gusted to as high as 140 km/h — blew threw her house as she madly tried to close all her windows.
While an emergency warning about the storm went out to some people on their mobile phones, Leger doesn’t own a cellphone and gets her news from her landline and the television.
She had no idea of the extent of the storm bearing down on her home.
Six months later Leger says not a single repair has been done on her home.
“At this time, the chimney still remains on the roof and I have no heat in my home and now I’m worried about the water pipes freezing,” said Leger who grows more concerned as winter approaches.
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After months of back and forth with her insurance company, she has yet to receive any news about how much she will get for repairs.
“I feel very belittled by my company,” said Leger.
She said she tried to investigate possible compensation from provincial disaster assistance but doesn’t think she’s eligible.
Several contractors and engineers who have come to examine her home told Leger the damages pose a severe safety issue. They’ve estimated that the cost of the repairs are anywhere between $500,000 to $1 million.
Leger’s situation is not unique.
Ottawa resident Andrew Lussier said his insurance company has been ‘lowballing’ him and refuses to pay for the full cost of damages.
“I would be out of pocket $30,000 to have my house repaired and I won’t do it. I can’t afford it,” said Lussier.
Half of Lussier’s porch was been destroyed and the other was completely torn out of the wall. His main concern is the two cracked rafters which he’s afraid might not be able to withstand the weight of the snow come wintertime.
He said contractors estimate the repairs will cost $130,000. The insurance company has offered to pay $99,000.
He says there’s conflicting ideas between what the work the insurance company thinks needs to get done and the work the contractors say actually needs to be done.
“My house is gonna look like a jigsaw puzzle from two different puzzles,” said Lussier.
Lussier has been serving in the military for 35 years and has been paying insurance to the same company for the last three decades. With his retirement coming up in under a month, paying $30,000 out of pocket is not in the budget.
The last time he spoke to his insurance company was three weeks ago, and he hasn’t heard from them since. His contractors say they will need about eight to ten weeks to finish the job, not including ordering the materials to fix the home.
Ottawa and surrounding municipalities have also written letters to Premier Doug Ford urging the province to open the province’s promised disaster recovery assistance program to their areas.
Ford announced the program in May to help with repairs but it has yet to roll out and Ottawa and other cities have received no response their inquiries.
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