Cape Breton flood victims meet with aid agencies

More than 250 people whose homes and property were damaged by floodwaters on Thanksgiving gathered at Centre 200 in Sydney, N.S., to meet with agencies offering them assistance.

Booths were set up offering one-on-one advice from the Emergency Management Office, lawyers, the Canadian Red Cross and others.

It was the first opportunity for homeowners to ask questions about everything from insurance claims to financial assistance.

Ignored by insurance company

Kayla Organ was at the meeting. The flood left a metre of water in her finished basement.

"We have a baby coming in seven weeks and I have a home that I cannot live in and no one seems to want to talk to me from my insurance company or help me out in any way," she said.

EMO is helping people access emergency money in those situations, said George Muise, the eastern emergency management planning officer for the organization.

"They're giving them some quick answers on what is covered and what is not covered," said Muise.

"Providing the applications for them and giving them some advice on filling out the applications in the process. What they should do as far as keeping documentation and those type of things."

Trying to work quickly

There are about 20 homeowners who were very hard hit by the flood and those people are being dealt with first, said Muise. So far 90 to 100 inspections have been completed and EMO is still identifying the homes that were damaged the most.

Muise said they're working as quickly as possible to process claims for emergency assistance and get homes fixed .

"Once the official word comes in from the guys that the claim would be covered sometimes that can be used to secure contractors and those type of things who may wait for payment to come through the process "

'Cautious optimism'

Robin Nathanson's home on Cabot Street was badly damaged by the flood, he's waiting for his claim to be processed. He said the information at the meeting was helpful.

"I think they did their best to address everybody's individual concerns. On a broader scale I think they addressed a lot of major concerns. I'm walking away from it feeling better but again it's a cautious optimism."

A second public meeting will take place tonight in Glace Bay. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Glace Bay fire hall.

The information sessions will help document people's biggest questions and the most relevant answers, said Cecil Clarke, mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The municipality can then use that information to help people get through the recovery process.