Its official — Markdale is now a disaster area.
The Municipality of Grey Highlands made the declaration at a special Council meeting yesterday in a move that puts them in a position to receive disaster relief aid from the Province.
Markdale was one of a number of Ontario communities that was hit by a tornado on August 20th.
Mayor Brian Mullin says any municipality that was affected by the devastating storm has 14 working days to declare a disaster area and apply for aid.
He says with that amount of time to submit their application they were in no hurry to declare it.
Council was given a report from C-A-O Kelley Coulter that there were some shortfalls in the emergency procedures that occurred as the storm hit the area.
Council agreed to staff recommendation to have their personnel be given more formal training to handle these kinds of emergencies.
Mullin says he did not declare a state of emergency in Markdale after the tornado came through the area.
He says it was not necessary after hearing from the O-P-P, the Markdale Fire Department, their Public Works Department, and Hydro One that everything was under control.
Mullin says once the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing accepts the application they will strike a committee to oversee the distribution of the disaster aid.
He says the committee will be made up of citizens and will be arms length from Council.
He says the committee will be able to use municipal resources but they will control where the funds will go.