It will be a while before some parts of Saugeen Shores recover from the big storm that hit town back on September 7th.
Port Elgin’s North Shore park has been closed for weeks and remains closed after the storm knocked down numerous trees. Yellow caution tape surrounds the previously well-treed waterfront park which has a popular lakeside paved trail that’s lined with picnic tables and benches. The park’s playground equipment is also taped off.
Director of Protective Services / Community Emergency Management Coordinator & Fire Chief Phil Eagleson says, “North Shore Park remains closed at this time due to the storm damage and the cleanup needed to get the park back up. It’s one of our most favourite parks and it’s a beautiful place but it’s had a redesign due to mother nature and we want to make sure the park is perfect and safe before it opens in its entirety to the community.”
Eagleson says he doesn’t have an estimate for when the North Shore Park will reopen, but it’s more a matter of weeks or months than it is a matter of days.
“The park is closed due to the hazards in the park. There’s piles of logs that are unstable, there’s brush that still needs to be cleared, there’s roots that are half out and half in the ground, so it makes for dangerous situations there,” says Eagleson.
The storm damage was determined by the Northern Tornadoes project to have been caused by a bow echo in the line of storms over Lake Huron which produced downbursts as it came ashore at Port Elgin and at Southampton around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The organization says the damage from the downbursts was rated at EF1 and EF0.
Saugeen Shores police say on that day, their communications branch received 72 calls for service, on a day where around 30 calls is the average. They say of those 72 calls, officers responded to 28 reports of dangerous conditions related to storm damage and outages.
Media Relations Officer Andy Evans says, “The resilience of everyone affected and all responders that day is to be commended.”
Meanwhile, Eagleson says the harbour saw damage as well, noting, “We’re looking at some dock replacement or repairs and unfortunately the damage was so severe that some docks aren’t able to be used for the rest of the season.”
Eagleson says they were able to accommodate the boats that were displaced. He does note there were boaters who ended their season early and those who wished to keep their boats in the marina were given other slips.
Cleanup is also underway after minor damage to some of the town’s trail networks.
In terms of what Eagleson says the Town is looking at all the cleanup and repair projects at the same time and it’s working with the Province on some funding solutions.
“We won’t have an answer there until early next year, but we’re making an application for some financial relief. With the damages in the park and the damages in the harbour, it’s obviously very expensive,” says Eagleson, explaining, “At this time we’re still estimating the damage and the extent of replacement and repair costs.”
Cleanup still continues on properties along Bruce Road 13, just north of Southampton on Saugeen First Nation where a number of cottage properties, trees and hydro lines were damaged by the storm, forcing the closure of the road for a few days.