A local member of Parliament has seen for himself how storm damage affected area shorelines.
Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Van Kesteren took a tour Friday of Pelee Island to examine storm damage from last weekend's rain and ice storms. He was joined on the tour by elected officials from Pelee Island, along with representatives from the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
Van Kesteren was scheduled to visit storm-damaged areas of Wheatley and Leamington. He says he is seeing much more than what has been broadcast and shown on social media.
"You have a whole new appreciation for the drastic changes these storms can have on our shorelines when you witness the aftermath in person," Van Kesteren said in a news release.
The region was whipped by heavy rains and high winds during an early spring storm last Saturday and Sunday. ERCA's watershed management services director Tim Byrne, who accompanied Van Kesteren on the Pelee Island tour, said last week the shoreline damage was the worst in two decades.
After looking at the Pelee Island damage Friday, Byrne said action needs to be taken sooner rather than later, or fixing the problem will just be more costly.
"We have submitted a coastal assessment which identifies the most vulnerable threats," says Byrne in the release. "This isn’t rocket science. We need armour stone, which is available on the island quarry, and we need it now. It’s about an $8-million investment now, or a much higher one later, perhaps even later this year.”
Van Kesteren says his priorities after safety of residents include preventing further damage, making repairs to vulnerable areas, and bringing back the integrity of the shoreline.
