Clearwater County and the Town of Trochu will get provincial help in paying for the cleanup that followed a pair of violent windstorms that toppled thousands of trees and forced officials to evacuate Nordegg.
Mike Haugen, county community and protective services manager, said the municipality applied for about $100,000 towards the cost of responding to the devastating windstorm on the August long weekend last year and the lengthy cleanup that followed. About 70 residents had to be evacuated because of a gas leak caused when a falling tree hit propane tanks.
Besides clearing away trees felled by the wind, county crews had to haul thousands of damaged trees to burn pits to dispose of them after the storm that ripped through about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2.
“The cleanup took a while — we’re talking months,” said Haugen.
The county has been told it has been approved for funding aid, but there is no word yet on how much is coming. “We haven’t received anything formal yet.”
An Alberta Municipal Affairs spokeswoman also could shed no light on how much the municipality had coming, saying the information had to come from Clearwater County.
Clearwater’s share will come from $1 million in disaster recovery and municipal wildfire assistance announced last week.
It is hoped news that provincial assistance is coming could open the door to getting some financial help for individuals affected by the storm, Haugen said.
Some property owners have had trouble getting insurance to cover cleanup costs because they don’t involve specific damage to buildings or property.
“Some of the informal things we’re hearing is that some are having a tough time with this,” he said.
In the past, once the province has approved municipal help, individuals have stood a better chance of getting help. The county will try to help residents access government funding.
“We’re obviously going to explore all options.”
Trochu applied for funding to cover the cost of responding and cleaning up after wind slammed into the community about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 1.
Mayor Barry Kletke said the wind clocked at 200 km/h snapped about half the town’s mature poplars.
More than 100 trees were destroyed and about the same number badly damaged and may have to be taken down this year. The ferocity of the wind left roads blocked by downed trees, tore roofs of buildings and even tumbled a tandem grain truck down a coulee.
It was hoped the provincial funding would cover the cost of replacing trees, but the province has said no.
Other cleanup costs, such as the hours town staff and other emergency workers spent clearing debris, will be covered.
The final bill for eligible costs has not been determined.
Carstairs is also in line for windstorm help, said the province. The Counties of Thorhild and Lamont will get assistance to cover the cost of fighting and cleaning up after extreme wildfires ripped through those areas in May and September last year.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com