As cleanup of Brantford’s worst flood in decades continues, thoughts are turning to whether everything that could have been done to minimize the water’s impact was done.

Specifically, a number of residents in the Grand River Avenue area are questioning why a dike gap near their street wasn’t filled in before the river started to rage.

“It would have saved everybody on this street tons of heartache, tons of stress,” says Leona Heilema.

“It should have been done. No ifs, ands or buts – it should have been done.”

While the floodwater stayed out of Hielema’s house, both of her family’s cars were destroyed when they tried to drive them through deep water.

City officials say the gap was filled in as soon as they were given permission to do so by the GRCA on the morning of the flood.

“There’s no finger-pointing here,” says Mayor Chris Friel.

“This … was an extreme weather event that we could not have anticipated and the GRCA could not have anticipated.”

While Brantford is used to dealing with a swelling Grand River, last week’s flood was unique in that ice jams played a prominent role in its creation.

An ice jam upstream of the city, in Cambridge, released unexpectedly early on the morning of Feb. 21, sending a torrent of water and ice toward Brantford with little warning.

Friel says the city and the GRCA will be looking for a way to close the gap in the dike permanently.

The city held a meeting Thursday night to provide residents directly affected by the flood information about cleanup efforts and recovery programs.

The meeting was at times tense and terse, as a number of residents accused the city of not doing enough to prevent the flood or offering enough support for cleanup.

“This was not our fault, and we’re paying the price,” Stephanie Leggo said after the meeting.

“We don’t have the funds to be fixing the stuff.”

Also upset that the public meeting only offered application forms and advice, instead of immediate help, was Ian Crichton.

Crichton said his furnace had been destroyed in the flood, leaving him without heat for the past week.

“We came here for answers,” he said.

“We … listened to a school class on why rivers block up.”

Donna Chaney, who said she had “lost a lot” during the flood, said her biggest concern was about damage to infrastructure along the river.

“What’s that going to mean for spring thaw? Are we going to be back in the same boat again?” she said.

Maria Viscocchi, the city’s director of communications and community engagement, told CTV News that she considered residents’ frustrations “understandable” and pointed to the city’s top priority during the flooding being public safety.

She said the city was proud that it was able to get through the flood without any reports of injuries.

“We feel like the evacuation order was directly the reason for that,” she said.

Approximately 2,200 properties near the river were evacuated for two days at the peak of the flooding.

The province has activated its disaster relief program, allowing Brantford residents and small businesses to apply for financial help covering the cost of damages they suffered.

With reporting by Heather Senoran and Tina Yazdani