March lays out plan for better flood claims

Ombudsman Fraser March is calling on the provincial government to improve how it deals with big floods.

March, the citizen's representative to the legislature, launched his investigation after eight people who were flooded out by tropical storm Gabrielle in September 2001 filed complaints.

From Sept. 27, 2001: Flood victims looking for answers

The storm dumped 118 millimetres of rain on St. John's in a 24-hour period. More than 1,200 claims for flood damage compensation were filed with the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO).

The federal and provincial governments ended up paying $6.7 million in compensation.

March says it took two months for the federal government to tell the province whether it would participate in the compensation program.

"This lack of timeliness led to inefficiencies, led to suffering on the part of citizens, and clearly is unacceptable," March says.

He also it took the EMO took too long to inform citizens where they could get help.

March makes several recommendations for improving the way the EMO handles disaster claims:

March says the province should continue to work with the city of St. John's to improve the storm sewer system to handle heavy rainfalls and flooding.

No excuse next time

The ombudsman wants his recommendations adopted by June 2004, and he says there won't be an excuse for an untimely response the next time.

March also says it's very important to note that when Gabrielle hit St. John's, emergency measures staff were "reeling from the after effects of the 9-11 tragedy and the superhuman efforts put forward by those organizations during that week."

About 17,000 airline passengers were stranded in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the EMO had to coordinate taking care of those passengers for several days.

Minister says lessons learned

Municipal and Provincial Affairs minister Oliver Langdon says responding to Gabrielle was difficult, because the impact of the storm was so severe.

"That was the first time that we had had a situation like Gabrielle," he says. "We had no indication that the federal government would come in and participate with us."

Langdon's department has already started to implement most of the report's recommendations. That began when Badger and the west coast were hit by floods earlier this year.

"We opened an office in Grand Falls-Windsor immediately. On the west coast, we opened an office in Deer Lake, and provided the people with the guidelines and packages."

Langdon plans to meet with March to discuss recommendations that haven't been adopted.

Those include the independent appeal process, and working with Ottawa to expand compensation.