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Some Manitobans don't want government buyouts of flood-prone land
By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is deciding whether to force people to move out of flood-prone areas by expropriating their land after another spring of serious flooding.
But some residents want to stay put.
"No way I want to leave. Everything I've got here was put in by hand, every tree that is here, we planted," Ken Fey said Monday from his home in the Breezy Point area north of Winnipeg, where he has spent all but five of his 73 years.
"There's no money that can buy us out."
Like many people near Breezy Point, Fey found water rushing into his home this spring when ice jams developed in the Red River and forced water to spill onto the land. He had a metre of water in his basement but was luckier than some others whose homes were smashed by massive chunks of ice.
The province is working to put together a buyout package for residents in areas such as Breezy Point, which flood regularly. But it has yet to decide which homes will be affected, and whether buyouts will be voluntary or mandatory.
"We're assessing that right now. The commitment I've made is to move as quickly as possible," said Steve Ashton, the province's emergency measures minister. Ashton is due to travel to Ottawa on Tuesday to discuss the issue with the federal government.
"We'd look at voluntary (buyouts) as the first option, but the municipalities have raised this ... they're the ones that have to send in first responders and rescue crews."
Steve Strang, the mayor of St. Clements, has called on the province to force more than a dozen homeowners out of the northern part of his community, just across the river from Breezy Point. Strang says it's not fair to expect rescue workers and taxpayers to come to the aid of people who live in an area that floods almost every year.
Part of the dilemma for the province is determining which residents should be relocated. The entire Red River Valley is essentially a flood plain, hit by high water in different locations every three or four years. Even in the most chronically flooded areas, such as Breezy Point near the mouth of the Red River, some homes are drenched by water more often than others.
Some parts of Breezy Point have flooded in seven of the last 11 years. Fey's land floods almost every year, but his home has only had water in it this year and in 2006.
About two kilometres farther north, seasonal cottages sit on provincial land which is flooded much more frequently.
One of Fey's neighbours, Desiree Stertz, had so much water in her house this year that it lifted off its foundation. She and her husband scrambled to their rooftop and awaited rescue.
Stertz said she'd be tempted to accept a buyout package and move from the bungalow she has lived in since 2003, if the price were right. But she's worried the province might not offer fair market value for her home.
For local politicians, trying to arrange a buyout package that will please everyone presents a conundrum.
"I've got 122 homes that were evacuated this year," said Don Forfar, reeve of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, which stretches from the northern border of Winnipeg to Breezy Point.
"Some of them never flooded until 1996 and now many of them have had two, three or four floods subsequent to that."
Premier Gary Doer has said he understands that most people would prefer a voluntary buyout package, similar to one offered to some residents south of Winnipeg after the so-called flood of the century in 1997. But there appears to be a consensus that, one way or the other, buyouts will only work if everyone is involved.
"I think if you're moving an area, yeah, you've got to do them all, 'cause leaving one (home) doesn't make much sense," Forfar said.
By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is deciding whether to force people to move out of flood-prone areas by expropriating their land after another spring of serious flooding.
But some residents want to stay put.
"No way I want to leave. Everything I've got here was put in by hand, every tree that is here, we planted," Ken Fey said Monday from his home in the Breezy Point area north of Winnipeg, where he has spent all but five of his 73 years.
"There's no money that can buy us out."
Like many people near Breezy Point, Fey found water rushing into his home this spring when ice jams developed in the Red River and forced water to spill onto the land. He had a metre of water in his basement but was luckier than some others whose homes were smashed by massive chunks of ice.
The province is working to put together a buyout package for residents in areas such as Breezy Point, which flood regularly. But it has yet to decide which homes will be affected, and whether buyouts will be voluntary or mandatory.
"We're assessing that right now. The commitment I've made is to move as quickly as possible," said Steve Ashton, the province's emergency measures minister. Ashton is due to travel to Ottawa on Tuesday to discuss the issue with the federal government.
"We'd look at voluntary (buyouts) as the first option, but the municipalities have raised this ... they're the ones that have to send in first responders and rescue crews."
Steve Strang, the mayor of St. Clements, has called on the province to force more than a dozen homeowners out of the northern part of his community, just across the river from Breezy Point. Strang says it's not fair to expect rescue workers and taxpayers to come to the aid of people who live in an area that floods almost every year.
Part of the dilemma for the province is determining which residents should be relocated. The entire Red River Valley is essentially a flood plain, hit by high water in different locations every three or four years. Even in the most chronically flooded areas, such as Breezy Point near the mouth of the Red River, some homes are drenched by water more often than others.
Some parts of Breezy Point have flooded in seven of the last 11 years. Fey's land floods almost every year, but his home has only had water in it this year and in 2006.
About two kilometres farther north, seasonal cottages sit on provincial land which is flooded much more frequently.
One of Fey's neighbours, Desiree Stertz, had so much water in her house this year that it lifted off its foundation. She and her husband scrambled to their rooftop and awaited rescue.
Stertz said she'd be tempted to accept a buyout package and move from the bungalow she has lived in since 2003, if the price were right. But she's worried the province might not offer fair market value for her home.
For local politicians, trying to arrange a buyout package that will please everyone presents a conundrum.
"I've got 122 homes that were evacuated this year," said Don Forfar, reeve of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, which stretches from the northern border of Winnipeg to Breezy Point.
"Some of them never flooded until 1996 and now many of them have had two, three or four floods subsequent to that."
Premier Gary Doer has said he understands that most people would prefer a voluntary buyout package, similar to one offered to some residents south of Winnipeg after the so-called flood of the century in 1997. But there appears to be a consensus that, one way or the other, buyouts will only work if everyone is involved.
"I think if you're moving an area, yeah, you've got to do them all, 'cause leaving one (home) doesn't make much sense," Forfar said.
