Burlington flood deadline

It’s almost last call for victims of the Burlington flood in August. Anyone who was uninsured or under-insured has until December 15th to get applications in to the Burlington Community Foundation for funding.

Four months after the flood and people are still reeling from the worst rain storm in years.

Juke Bauer sighs while going through receipts from damage caused by the August 4th flood in Burlington: “We’ve been in the house for twelve years, we’ve slowly renovated and purchased and acquired things as you do and with six feet of water in your house, all of a sudden it’s gets bagged up and thrown in the dumpster.”

More than four tonnes of garbage went into that bin according to Bauer, after two months worth of rain fell in just a few hours.

Bauer’s home had almost 120 thousand dollars in damage and her insurance only covered ten thousand. The basement had to be completely gutted, and much of the main living area was also under water. Now four months later things are almost back to normal.

Bauer: “A lot of it is priorities, figuring out what you need and what you can do without. And for us we were super, super lucky to have great friends, great family, great community, really pitch in.”

But others weren’t so lucky. The Burlington Community Foundation has set up a fund to provide financial support. Donations have reached almost one million dollars and the government has pledged to match it, two to one. 75 people have filed claims so far. But the foundations knows there are more people in need of help.

With the December 15th deadline looming the foundation sent out more than 3,000 flyers to residents in the hardest hit areas. It’s reminding residents that the funds are available.”

Bauer has already filled out her application and says she will be grateful for whatever she gets. She says she knows there are others who are still really struggling: “I hope the disaster relief fund really helps them a lot, I mean there’s people on our street who won’t be in their house for Christmas”

December 15th is critical. You must have your application in by that date. Money will be dispersed about 6 to 8 weeks later.

One thing Bauer said she wants from all of this is for the city to figure out what cause this flooding and fix the problems.