Perth-Andover flood help draws mixed views

People in Perth-Andover are expressing mixed feelings about recent compensation cheques for flood damages, according to a village official.

Thenorthwestern village was flooded in Marchand caused a state of emergency to be declared.

Once the waters receded, the community discovered many homes and businesses were damaged, along with the local hospital and high school.

Premier David Alward committed to the citizens that the provincial government would act swiftly to help the community recover,including financial compensation for homeowners and businesses.

The disaster financial assistanceis not intended to be complete compensation for damages suffered in the flood, but some residents say the amounts they've received will not cover necessary repairs to their homes and buildings.

Dan Dionne, the village's chief administrative officer, said people can lodge a complaint about their compensation.

"There is a process in place where people can ask for a review of their file and we certainly encourage anyone who's unhappy with the results of their financial compensation package to certainly follow up on that," Dionne said.

There are other factors that are complicating the villages efforts to rebuild.

Dionne said the provincial government has not announced a relocation program, even though theAlward government said that could be an optionfor the village.

The village official said many homeownerswill notknow if it isworth fixing their homes until they find out if they will have an option of relocating outside of the flood zone.

Economic impact

Many citizens in the village are still feeling the effects of the flood.

High school studentshad to be bused to nearby communities to finish their school year.Sections of the local hospitalhave been deemed to be damaged beyond repair.

As well,a call centre, which was the village'slargest private employer,has already announced that it will not reopen in the village after its office was damaged during the flood.

The village is now attempting to take stock of how the flood has impacted the local economy.

"One of the issues we have from the municipality's perspective, is of course tax revenue, water and sewer revenue [and the] number of residents. So we've started to track the total economic impact of the flood on the community," Dionne said.

The villages chief administrative officer said he is also tracking how many people have decided to leave Perth-Andover.

So far, Dionne said only a handful have left the village permanently.