Sydney flooded home inspections begin, many properties likely unsafe

Municipal inspectors have begun examining homes in an area of central Sydney that was inundated by floodwaters during Monday's devastating rain and windstorm.

Paul Burt, Cape Breton Regional Municipality's manager of inspection and bylaws, visited several homes Thursday to get a sense of "what we're going to be dealing with."

• Flood cleanup: 'We want this done fast, we're moving immediately with it'
• As flooded customers plead for help, contractor hauls out as much wet gyprock as he can

"We're telling the residents that we're going to back over the next few days with a team of inspectors to actually go in and do a formal inspection of each property to determine whether it's structurally sound, if there's any environmental contamination," he said.

Many of those homeowners are already aware their homes are contaminated with sewage, furnace oil and mud.

Unsafe to occupy

"There's a good chance a great many of these places will be posted with an order that basically says the property is unsafe to occupy," said Burt.

"We're not condemning the property or making any kind of a statement other than the fact that in its current condition, it's not safe to occupy."

• Here's the fastest way to help those flooded out in Cape Breton

People will still be able to go to gather personal belongings or to start repairs, if their inspection deems it possible, he said.

Other homes, however, will have to be demolished.

"We're going in there as an independent, unbiased agency, trying to give these folks some good information."

• Insurance woes await some hardest hit by Cape Breton floods

Burt said the inspectors' assessments will also be crucial when and if homeowners have to apply for disaster relief to begin rebuilding or finding another home.

"We're telling people to keep their spirits up," he said. "It's a really unfortunate situation and it was a real eye-opener today to get into some of these homes to see the level of devastation that they're dealing with."