By Phil Cottrell
Resident of Westmeath, Ontario
As life starts to return to normal, or some resemblance of normal and as we try and catch up with a total lost month due to flooding, when we could not get out of the property, and the only way in, other than with the Army was by boat, it is extremely important not to lose sight of the fact that we have gone through a very stressful, harrowing and difficult time.
We personally were one of the lucky ones. We were vacuuming up basement ground water on the hour every hour 24/7 taking turns sleeping and working. But we kept the water out. That was all very minor compared to others who have suffered terrible destruction and in some cases irreparable damage. If for no other reason, other than an obligation to those folk, we need to keep alive questions about the whole issue of why this flooding occurred and what can be done to prevent it from happening in such severity in the future.
The summer is arriving, finally, and we will be sitting on our decks having a few drinks and enjoying cookouts, and it will be easy to forget all that we went through. Others who will be rebuilding and putting their lives back together will not be so fortunate.
Consequently, the meeting on June 23rd in the Westmeath Arena facilitated by MPP John Yakabuski, hosted by Mayor Mike Moore, with OPG, the Ottawa River Regulatory Board and MNRF present was one that everybody affected by the flooding should have attended. Unfortunately, no answers were provided and no assurances were given that this could not happen again. Presentations were overly scientific, completely lacked any empathy and gave no hope at all for the future. Most of us came away dejected.
By contrast our Whitewater Municipality put on an excellent “Info Fair” event where they brought in their senior managers who were available for questions. However, there are limitations as to what the Municipality can do, although it has to be said that their emergency responses were excellent.
In all of this, we need though, to avoid conjecture, unsubstantiated statements and conspiracy theories all of which seem to be quite prevalent right now, especially on social media. We also need to offer suggestions as to what could be done in the future, however “off the wall” those suggestions might be. We need collective efforts to keep this whole issue alive and not forget all that has occurred and strive for some answers even it it takes us through to next spring, when, Heaven forbid, we do not want to experience anything like this again.
