TRURO – Premier Darrell Dexter was in Truro today to discuss repairs and to help develop an action plan to ensure families and business owners do not have their lives disrupted every time there is heavy rain.
"I toured the Truro area the day after the storm and saw, first-hand, the incredible damage and the impact on people's lives," Premier Dexter said in a news release. "This flooding has been happening for too long. The people of Truro deserve a more permanent solution to this problem.
"I'm pleased that all levels of government are now working together to get the immediate repairs done, and to fix the problem of flooding in Colchester County."
The mayors and the province have agreed to set up a joint working group to address the issues of flooding, flood infrastructure and the impact of global warming in the Truro area.
"We need to fix the infrastructure we have now, and look at what new infrastructure we need, to fix this problem for the long-term. That's what will solve this issue for the residents of Truro," Premier Dexter said.
Experts met Wednesday to better understand the issues behind the recurring flooding. Staff from the Emergency Management Office met with staff from other provincial departments, the municipality and the federal government, to share flooding information from the past three decades.
Crews have fixed one of the four breaches in the berm already, and hope to have the main breach repaired by Tuesday, if weather permits. The last two areas to be repaired should be complete by the end of next week.
"I want to thank the residents and business owners for their patience as provincial and municipal staff work together to fix these problems," said Colchester County Mayor Bob Taylor, who attended today's meeting with Premier Dexter, Truro Mayor Bill Mills, Truro-Bible Hill MLA Lenore Zann and Ross Landry, Minister of Emergency Management.
"This is a persistent problem that has affected generations of people in central Nova Scotia. A lot of work has been done, but we're not there yet. I look forward to working with the province and others on a longer-term plan to protect our communities from serious flood damage in the future."
The process to get disaster relief funding to residents and business owners who need it has begun. Nearly all the damage assessments are in, and officials are collecting information to apply for federal disaster relief funding.
"We are working hard to help the residents of Truro so they can focus on other things," Premier Dexter said. "I understand that this is frustrating and time-consuming for the people affected, and I want to assure them that this problem will be fixed."
