Insurance woes await some hardest hit by Cape Breton floods

Some Cape Bretoners returning home towater-stained drywall,ruined furniture and worsefollowing this week's floodare also coming to grips with the prospect that much of the damage may not be covered by insurance.

It's exactly the possibility faced by Terry Drohan. He worries hishome on St. Peter's Road inSydney may be a total loss after itflooded to the first-floor ceiling and filled with silt, furnace oil and sewage. He's not optimistichis insurance policy will help.

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

"The main clause that everybody, myself and all my neighbours are looking at, is sewage backup," he said. "I had a little bit extra because I have a creek in the backyard.

"Butfor now, insurance companies are saying [sewage backup] is pretty well the only coverage that we have."

Thepayoutis only about $10,000 for those who had that coverage, Drohan said.

'You're on your own'

St. Peter's Road is in central Sydney, the heart of the disaster area where 220 millimetresof rain overwhelmed municipal infrastructure in a matter of hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Insurance experts have said sewage backup coverage can help if water came in through the sewer, floor drains, tub, sinks or toilet. But if it seeped through windows and doors, many homeowners will be out of luck without "extended water coverage."

Drohan saidone of his neighbours was told "you're on your own" by an insurance adjuster who explained the man's policy doesn't cover groundwater, or overland flooding.

• 'This is unlivable, I'm just lost right now': Flood evacuees return home to mud and stink

Denise Dunnof Prime Brook, just outside Sydney, heard the same bad newsfrom her insurance company Wednesday night.

Herfinished basement was destroyed in the flooding.She was told her policy included the sewage backupclause, but that'sof no use to her because her home is not on the municipal sewer system.

Lost everything

Patricia Rogers, however, may be able to recover some of her losses.

She lived in the same basement apartmentfor 13 years and was forced out Monday as water began coming from everywhere.

"The water first started coming up through the toilet, and then the tub," she said. "My landlord said that the plumber was on the way.

"By the time the plumber got here, the water was overflowing in the bathroom and coming into my bedroom and the laundryroom. It was coming up from the drainage in the floor."

Rogers saidshe shot video of the water as it rose, apparently out of the apartment's plumbing, so she's hopeful shemay be able to replace the furniture and clothing she lost inthe flood.

Mayor promises emergency relief

Cape Breton Regional Mayor Cecil Clarke has announced $1.5 million in emergency funding for people in immediate needof shelter, food andclothing.

He said at a briefing Thursday morning that he's confident other disaster relief will be forthcoming from the provincial and federal governments, both for people whose insurance won't cover the losses, and those who had no insurance at all.

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That's welcome news to Drohan.

"None of use can really afford to stay in hotels or find apartments. The oil is through all of the clothing; there isn't really anything salvageable and we're all running out of money staying in hotels, so we're hoping for some immediate relief."