Five days after a flash flood and mudslide in Rockwood, homeowners still don’t know who will end up paying for the damage.
The flood occurred Sunday morning and affected eight homes on Harris Street. Officials blamed it on a combination of heavy rainfall and melting snow causing a man-made water storage pond to burst.
Guelph-Eramosa Fire Chief John Osborne said the wall of water was roughly two feet tall and 30 feet wide.
But five days later, 30 feet of water seems like nothing compared to the gulf between residents, officials and insurance companies over who will foot the bill for the damage.
“It’s upsetting. It’s disappointing, the fact that this happened and they haven’t done anything yet,” says Lora Jende, whose kitchen floors were ripped apart by the flood.
On Sunday, shortly after the flood, representatives from Charleston Homes said their company, which owns the construction site on which the pond sat, would look after the damage.
“We’re opening an insurance claim and we’ll deal with any damages caused by that water flow,” he told CTV.
But 24 hours later, the developer changed its tune, according to affected resident Barry Peters.
“By the Monday, they’d come to my house saying ‘We want you to go through your own insurance because they’re going to look after you better than we’re going to look after you,’” he says.
Charleston Homes did not respond to requests for comment from CTV.
Guelph-EramosaTownshiphas agreed to pay for Jende’s damages, but the other seven homeowners remain uncertain if they’ll have to pick up the tab.
Township engineers are examining the water storage pond to determine if it was built correctly, and who is responsible if it was not.
“We’re going to get a restoration crew in, done professionally, and the township will take care of that,” said township mayor Chris White.
“Once we figure out where the accountability lays, we’ll clear that up, but it certainly shouldn’t be (with) the homeowner.”
A report on the pond is expected to be complete by Tuesday.
