Funding meant to help Ontario communities recover from extreme wind damage won’t be enough to make property and business owners whole or eliminate risks to vital infrastructure, some municipalities say.
Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Graydon Smith announced last month that the province would provide $5.5 million to 22 small municipalities affected by storms last summer, including tornadoes and a derecho – a line of intense, fast-moving windstorms – after the municipality of Tweed requested funding.
Smith said the funding would ensure communities “are able to recover from these weather events.” Not so, say the municipalities that received the largest share of the funding.