Bedford families living in flood zone want update from the province on buyout program

Residents whose homes were destroyed by the floods that struck Union Street in Bedford, N.S., on July 21, 2023, find themselves in a nightmare as they wait for an update from the provincial government on a buyout program.

Sabah-Al-Alam and his family have not slept a night in their home for seven months. The floods last year destroyed it.

His basement was covered by six feet of water. Both levels of the home were covered in mold and mildew. It was uninhabitable.

In the meantime, Al-Alam’s family has been renting while they rebuild.

“Since the floods it’s been lots of running around. Lots of back and forth with insurance and the banks and we’re doing renovations, working hard and trying to finish things and get back to our house,” said Al-Alam.

The damages are estimated to cost over $100,000. Fortunately, unlike some of his neighbours, his insurance is covering the costs.

However, that house still sits on a flood zone, and that makes Al-Alalm worry about the future.

“Our insurance is still running until April. After that we are not sure we will get the insurance for this area,” he said.

That is one of the reasons Al-Alam wants the province to purchase his home.

Soon after the floods in July, the people affected by it called for a buyout. Valarie Delorey and her father are one of them.

Valarie Delorey’s father’s home was also damaged by the floods. Similar to Al-Alam, there was mold build-up along the walls of their basement.

They have spent $50,000 on ripping apart the walls of the basement, removing the walls and mold. They have also absorbed additional costs associated with repairing the electrical and heating in the house.

“We didn’t get our power fully restored until December 29, so we were running space heaters to keep the pipes from freezing,” said Delorey.

They have not received anything from the federal disaster relief program for the floods and are also not covered by insurance. Delorey and her father are also hoping for the government to introduce a buyout program.

On October 16, Halifax City Council wrote a letter asking the provincial government to purchase some of the homes on Union Street.

Council unanimously voted to ask the provincial and federal government to introduce a buyout program because some of the homes are on a flood zone, as well as, the severity of the July flooding.

“Public money is being spent time and time again, as well as insurance money to rebuild these homes after floods,” explained area councillor Tim Outhit. “I’ve been in many of these homes several times during my time on council after floods. Sometimes it’s six inches of water and sometimes it’s six feet, but these homes continue be repaired and they’re in a floodplain.”

However, following Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Minister of Housing, John Lohr, was unaware of the letter.

“Not to my knowledge. I haven’t seen it if we have received it,” said Lohr. “Obviously anything that the municipality send us we would look at seriously.”

Families were blindsided by Lohr’s response.

“It’s shocking. It happened in July and the last time we spoke about it was October and we contacted people that were looking after that and I thought this was all in the government and that the letter was sent. I thought they were just looking to put in a plan for it,” said Al-Alam.

Delorey said she was really surprised. “We know it was sent and we were just waiting for a response. We were thinking that perhaps the reason we weren’t hearing about the disaster relief was because they were considering the buyout, but to hear we aren’t hearing back yet for no apparent reason, it’s upsetting.”

Outhit said it is possible the minister has not seen the letter, but it was sent months ago. He said it is important that the province purchase these homes since it is a safety concern.

“Their basements have water coming in and so do the second floor. It’s people running for their lives bare-feet, carrying friends, family and child. This is not an inconvenience where occasionally your basement may get a little water.”

The city has reached out to the province again to remind them of the letter they sent.

“I think there has to be a little bit of urgency on this. I just want the province to start communicating internally that A, this request has been received, and B, I want them to start talking to the federal government to see what funds might be available to assist with this,” said Outhit.

The funds for the buyout program would have to come from the federal government. Outhit said it falls on the province to speak with the federal government the type of funds that might be available.

“It’s time to talk to the feds to see if we can get money to buy out these homes and then leave it to the city to perhaps turn this area into a river water,” he said. “It’s federal money but the province had to talk to them about buying up these homes.”

CTV News reached out to the Department of Housing, and in a statement they said that they did receive a letter from the municipality, and that once a response is ready, both the letter and the response will go to the minister for approval.

It said the province does not maintain a program to purchase properties impacted by severe weather.

“Any decision to purchase affected properties would require an in-depth analysis of current impacts and potential future,” said Krista Hidgon, the department’s communications advisor. 

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.