Nearly a year after flood waters washed through the Sydney area, the remaining homes lost in the Thanksgiving Day deluge are finally about to be torn down.
Homeowners say they'll feel both sadness and relief when the first of 16 buildings is demolished this week.
“I've been there for 60 years, and all the memories I've had, you know," says Sydney resident Ronnie Mader.
"This was a long time coming,” says Sydney resident Wayne Martin. “It's time to take them down, get it over with."
The flood left about two dozen homes uninhabitable. Several of the houses that remain standing have long been targeted by vandals, leaving some residents wondering why it’s taken so long to get rid of them.
"They have a lot of places to take down. They probably have to dig up and cap the sewer lines and water lines before anything else can come down,” says Martin. “I'm just a little disappointed that there is no one here. They said they were going to be here Monday morning."
Nova Scotia Municipal Affairs Minister and local MLA Derek Mombourquette says the wait was necessary to allow all former homeowners to sign their properties over to the province.
"We had to ensure that every family had ample time to go through that process, as it was a very difficult time for them,” he says. “Now they've settled, they're starting to move on in other areas of the community, and now we're moving into the next phase, which is removal and remediation of the properties."
The province has issued a $560,000 tender to a local contractor to tear down the 16 buildings. Demolition of the first home is now expected to take place later this week and will last until October.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
