At a brief special council meeting held at noon on July 13, Estevan City Council members voted unanimously to apply for Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) funds through the Ministry of Government Relations.
With the media present for the less than one-minute formal meeting, Mayor Roy Ludwig fielded a few questions regarding the state of recovery from the July 10 storm that left local streets flooded. He also warned local citizens to be aware of a team of scam artists who are currently touring the city, some posing as insurance adjusters, supposedly offering clean-up services.
“These people are just looking for money, not looking to help,” said Ludwig, noting there were also legitimate new arrivals who did offer free clean-up assistance, but they have now moved on to Arborfield where flood waters there have led to the complete evacuation of the town of 400 people.
As of the morning of July 13, 72 Red Cross clean-up kits had been issued to local citizens, said Ludwig, which only represented a small percentage of the homeowners and businesses that were affected by flood waters.
The 600 block of Sixth Street, and the Humane Society Road along with Woodlawn Avenue remain closed, while Fourth Avenue south has been re-opened.
Over 6.2 inches of rain fell on parts of Estevan in a little over an hour on the day of the storm, Ludwig said. “But our community came together again, and we are recovering now,” he said.
It is believe that the Energy City easily established a new record for the volume of rain received within a 24-hour period.
Damages to civic infrastructure such as the streets, the pump room at Affinity Place and other sites, have yet to be determined.
Legitimate insurance adjusters are now on the scene visiting claimant sites and recording the damages.
