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| Report to Legislature on Blue Mountains Tornado |
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(September 16, 2009 ) Mr. Jim Wilson: I rise to bring to the attention of this House the devastation that was caused by the F-2 tornado that touched down in the Town of The Blue Mountains on August 20th. Mr. Speaker: The morning after the storm I joined Mayor Ellen Anderson for a tour of the damage. Seeing roofs ripped off houses and apple orchards obliterated was overwhelming.Thankfully, the municipal response has been excellent. Following the tour we met with the local Emergency Management Committee to hear from emergency services personnel. I want to thank Steve Conn, the Town’s Emergency Management Coordinator, for his diligent efforts in helping to direct the local response and I want to applaud Mayor Anderson, Council and municipal staff for their swift response to the storm. Sadly, Georgian Bay’s Apple Growers were particularly hard-hit. Some 15 farms were damaged causing at least 4,500,700 pounds of apples to be lost. I want to thank the Ministers of Agriculture and Natural Resources for touring the area, and I appreciate the assistance of the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Today he notified me and the Mayor that he has declared the affected lands a disaster area – making the Town eligible for disaster relief. While this designation is important, it is expected that our apple growers will need extraordinary assistance, over and above existing programs and insurance. And so I just want to urge the government to continue to work with us so that The Blue Mountains can quickly recover from the storm damage. |
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