Lake Manitoba flood disaster remembered, one year later

Manitobans who were flooded out of their homes and cottages one year ago today are still coming to terms with their loss while trying to move on.

Thousands of Lake Manitoba residents had to leave their properties on May 31, 2011, whena windstorm pushed water from the lake into surrounding areas, including Twin Lakes Beach, Laurentian Beach, Sandpiper Beach, Pioneer Resort, Delta Beach and Johnson Beach.

The provincial government had artificially raised lake levels by more than half a metre to prevent flooding along the Assiniboine River.

One year later, Jacques Bertrand's house in the St. Laurent area is still uninhabitable.

"I've accepted the fact that I can't live here anymore, which is very sad because I really like living here. It's a very beautiful property," he said, while walking through his damaged house.

"I feel sad, and people do notice that I usually get quiet. It's not usually a good thing," he added. "I try not to visit, but I wind up coming here."

Bertrand said no one from the province has come to inspect his damaged home or offer any compensation.

The provincial government says it has been in touch with about 7,000 flood claim applicants from Lake Manitoba and other areas that were hit hard by last year's flood, including Hoop and Holler, Lake Dauphin and Dauphin River.

Appeal process faces delay

To date, 145 claimants97 of whom are from Lake Manitoba are appealing the compensation offers they have received, according to officials, who add that rulings have already been made in 21 of those cases.

Flood appeals commissioner Ron Bell, whose office looks at appeals from claimants in those affected areas, says people who want to appeal their compensation offers will have to wait a while for their cases to be heard.

"If somebody was to send us an appeal today, we would indicate to them that we probably wouldn't be hearing their appeal until fall," Bell told CBC News.

Bell said he is doubling his office staff from six people to 12, but they can still handle only six appeals a week.

"Some appeal bodies schedule appeal hearings for, like, a year away, and we're certainly nowhere near that," he said. "So I think we're doing pretty well, generally."

The 7,000 flood claims from Lake Manitoba, Hoop and Holler, Lake Dauphin and Dauphin River are part of an overall 30,000 claims that have been filed in Manitoba as a result of last year's flooding.

The province says there has been a total of about 350 appeals overall.