Transportation Department has 'huge backlog' of calls for storm cleanup help

P.E.I.'s transportation minister says it will be a long and expensive fall for his department, as crews attempt to help the hundreds of Islanders who've called asking for help with storm cleanup.

Steven Myers announced a week ago his department would start assistingproperty owners who can't handle the cleanup from post-tropical storm Dorian themselves.

Since then, he says more than 300 calls have come into the three counties' highway dispatch offices.

"It's mostly trees down in yards that are too big for people to handle, or people can't afford to bring somebody in to do it, or there's nobody around that can help them," said Myers.

"It's not something we can deal with the same day as the call for sure, because we have a huge backlog. But we have a hard-working staff, and they're working toward rectifying this."

'A substantial cost'

Myers said 300summer maintenance workers are responding to calls, and being offered overtime to meet the demand as quickly as possible.

He said in a normal year, about 100 of those workers would have been laid off by now.

I didn't want to leave anybody behind. Transportation Minister Steven Myers

The province is also hiring private companiesto get to jobs that require specializedexpertise and equipment.

"For the province it's probably going to be a substantial cost.But it's a once-in-a-20-year event," said Myers. "I don't think we've ever had anything like it that I can remember.It's worse than Juan was, so hopefully it's not something we have to deal with on a regular basis."

On Thursday nearly aweek after Lloyd Saunderscalled the province for help getting a fallen tree off his roof in Kensington, P.E.I. a tree removal company showed up to take care of it, at the province's expense.

Saunders expects the job will cost thousands of dollars more than he could've afforded on his own.

"To pay for the house and topay for this and the everyday stuff besides, you can't do it on these wages these days," he said.

"I'm quite glad the government would step up and help its own citizens. There'd be no taxpayers' money if there was no taxpayers."

Help for everyone who asks

Myers saidwhile the purposeis to helpIslanders who don't have the ability or means to take care of the cleanup themselves, government iscommitted to helping everyone who calls.

"I thought the no-barrier way was the clearest way to get into it, because I didn't want to leave anybody behind," he said.

"And if people who have money take advantage of us while we do this, so be it.I'd sooner that than to have someone right on the line saying 'I can't clean up my mess, and government didn't do anything to help me.'"

Though the minister saidpeople will need to be patient.

He pointed out the wait-list keeps growing, and thatcrews are also still busyclearing storm debrisfrom ditches and roadsides across the Island.

Myers saidhis department is prioritizing urgent cases, using a hypothetical situation of an "80-year-old who lives in a place alone with winter coming, and their roadway is half blocked off," as an example.

But Myers saidthe goal is to have all the cleanup complete before winter.

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