Goderich Tornado August 21, 2011

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1 Goderich Tornado August 21, 2011 Disaster to Planning to Rebuild One of Canada s Top Ten Weather Stories for 2011 Larry J. McCabe, Clerk-Administrator

2 General Event Facts At approximately 3:53 pm the tornado entered the harbour area from the west (off Lake Huron), moved up the lake bank and moved in an east southeast direction through the town less than two minutes The F3 tornado lasted about 15 minutes, with a total track of 20 km. An F3 or Fujita Scale 3 means peak winds between 253 and 330 km/h. First F3 tornado to hit Ontario since April 1996 Width of damage through town was 1.5km 1 death and 37 people injured The preliminary damage estimate for Goderich alone was $100 million 54 buildings demolished (19 Commercial, 35 Residential), an estimated 283 buildings required repair Major natural gas leaks mains damaged from up rooted trees, gas had to be turned off for the entire town and small village to the north of town. 50 Union Gas employees on site, within two weeks all customers back on! Entire town without power First Emergency Control Group meeting within 3 hours of storm Police 432 offices deployed to Town Trees 500 down on public lands, 25 acres at cemetery flattened - Not included the lake bank 2 horizontal grinders (100 truck loads/hr) within 6 days all town streets cleared

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4 The Square

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6 Courthouse Park reconstruction underway Fall 2012

7 Spring 2013

8 Hydro Facts Substation #2 damaged Operations Centre destroyed, utility vehicles trapped inside Within 8hrs of the storm 40% of the power was back on, which picked up facilities like retirement homes, water plant and wastewater plant, 2 gas stations, rec centre (OPP command centre) and emergency shelter/temporary emergency control centre Within 2 weeks, power returned to all 3700 customers with the exception of maybe 250 accounts - severely damaged buildings 100 poles replaced, 20 transformers down and 4833m of lines repaired 50 additional linemen plus equipment Total cost for new capital, repairs and assistance is about $1.5 million Expenses are NOT covered by insurance and do NOT qualify for ODRAP

9 Hydro Operations Centre

10 Hydro Losses Z-Factor Application made Fall The results of OEB decision: a) Yes there was an extraordinary event b) No to plan to recover costs over 63 months as $4.00/month per customer as presented c) Loss to form part of the Cost of Service Application Scheduled for May 2013 d) Loss amount to be accumulated in a variance account Cost of Service Application Interim Rates approval for May 2013 requested, rejected by OEB remain as Cost of Service process Cost of Service 2013 Projected to cost utility approx. $240,000

11 Goderich Harbour

12 Goderich Harbour Sifto Salt Mine - ship loading equipment, office building and storage buildings destroyed Private sub-station = scrap metal South Pier Terminals grain storage warehouse destroyed and elevators damaged 7 hydro poles down WCHE was able to restore power in 9 days First shipment of salt loaded less then 3 weeks after the storm Security needed to control traffic into the harbour

13 Harbour Today

14 Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program Monday, August 22 Premier McGuinty tours the tornado damaged areas and announces up to $5 million in disaster relief funds $2.5M for Town s disaster response and recovery $0.5M for the surrounding municipalities disaster response and recovery $2.0M to assist affected private individuals, farms, small businesses and non-profit organizations (2:1 Funding) Goderich & Area Disaster Relief committee (arms length from town) created from members of the public. The Committee s role is to administer the program and claims received during the recovery process, this includes raising funds: Fundraising committee raises the funds for the private component of the program, the province matches the dollars raised 2:1 Mid-2012, over $3.9 million was raised, over $12 million with the matched provincial funds (additional formal request) to assist the private side in recovery

15 ODRAP Committee Stats Applications: # of applications (files) received 373 # of files approved for financial assistance 236 # of files closed because financial assistance is not required 102 # of files ineligible 35 Expended and Committed Funds: Claims paid as of Feb. 15, 2013 $5,006, Funds committed to claimants but not paid as construction has not commenced $1,202, Total funds required to pay all claims $6,209, Fundraising: Total amount of money raised by local volunteer fundraisers $4,017, Interest earned on deposits $34, Total $ available from fundraising $4,051, Contributions from the Province of Ontario: Under the up to 2:1 matching formula, the Province is committed to contribute $2,157,409.40

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17 The Surprises! The Tornado forming on the Lake Heavy rains Aug 24 th and additional tornado warnings Ministry of Labour critical time lost (3 days) Weather! Discussions and Roles Asbestos AMEC, an environmental company (public lands only) Canadian Safety Ltd., an abatement company (public lands only) P100 fit testing (private public property concerns) Planning and Heritage Issues Municipal solicitor s involvement That the cost of Hydro s required infrastructure repairs are not covered by ODRAP or other provincial/federal disaster funding program To recover these costs, Hydro is applying for a Z Factor Rate increase, a very meticulous and costly process - on the backs of the customers Having the natural gas turned off to the entire town Natural gas generators useless Reaction of Emergency Operation Control Group members, staff, politicians & public

18 Moving Forward the Planning Sept 24 th first Public Meeting regarding the rebuild of the downtown core and town parks Very good attendance from residential and business community November 2011 Council selected the Planning Partnership to complete a Downtown Core Master Plan and Courthouse Park Landscape Design End of 2011, 119 tornado related building permits had been issued, total construction value $20.39M Temporary Use Bylaw and Tornado Bylaw finalized on Nov. 21, 2011 Committee preparing Bylaws were town solicitor and another municipal lawyer (pro bono), plus town planner Temporary Use Bylaw allows businesses that were damaged or destroyed in the tornado to temporarily reopen in a location they may not normally be permitted i.e. house, highway commercial location 18 months Tornado Bylaw temporary amendment, allowing buildings that had to demolished to be rebuilt in the exact same footprint as before even if that building doesn t conform to the current Zoning Bylaw and Official Plan i.e. requires variance, house built in commercial designation, etc Waived Site Plan fees

19 New Trees for Courthouse Park

20 Estimated cost Recovery and Rebuild Year(s) Goderich Hydro Town of Goderich Total Immediate recover of lost infrastructure 2011/12 $1,200,000 $1,200,000 Recovery and Rebuild Courthouse Square interior work 2012/13 $150,000 $3,100,000 $3,250,000 Remaining projects/stages $2,000,000 $8,000,000 $10,000,000 Total Expenses $3,350,00 $11,100,000 $14,450,000 Sources of Funding Taxpayer/Customer Rates $3,350,000 $9,845,000 $13,195,000 ODRAP $625,000 $625,000 Gas Tax $230,000 $230,000 Insurance Proceeds $400,000 $400,000 Total Revenue $3,350,00 $11,100,000 $14,450,000 Tax impact 1% increase in general municipal tax rate equals $63,000 Funding Application CIIF application unsuccessful for Courthouse Park - MIII application unsuccessful Core Area

21 Rebuilding

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23 New Construction in the Heritage District

24 Spring 2013

25 Lessons to be Learned 1995 Cyclone 1000 trees destroyed Emergency Operations Control Group (EOCG) executes emergency plan Declared August 21 st Over October 14 th Assistance of Emergency Management Ontario - Invaluable Emergency Services - Invaluable Communication imperative - blackberries, radios Immediate decision making by EOCG Senior Staff Council updated at meetings Legal Representation

26 Lessons to be Learned..... cont Professional and Trained Volunteer Resources Police Services (OPP) Public Works Crews Parks Crews Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) Hydro Union Gas Chief Building Officials and Building Inspectors Victim Services 500 people supported Red Cross 2600 homes visited Salvation Army 1400 meals/day Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Hospital Health Unit Temporary Zoning and Official Plan amendments / heritage Public Consultation /updates (media and flyer) /public (business) forums Record keeping/scribes (no time to make your own notes) Vehicle signage/proper equipment (shoes/masks/training/vests etc)

27 Lessons to be Learned..... cont Individual volunteers, create list of names not to be employed on public lands (MOL & asbestos) Staff, EOCG, politicians & public all affected differently Some faded, others rose Bombarded with press, s & requests all with well meaning intentions Rules/no rules (?) Hydro Infrastructure (Z-Factor) ODRAP public and private Interim Control By-law (Section 38, Planning Act) FOCUS *

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29 Thank you!