Cape Breton flood-ravaged areas toured by Ralph Goodale

Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says damage from this week's flood in Cape Breton could be $10 million, as he toured the worst-hit sections of Sydney Friday and tried to comfort at least one homeowner. 

"Holy cow," he said as he viewed a video showing floodwaters rising in Anna Mae Muise's neighbourhood. Her home, which underwent an $80,000 renovation four years ago, was inundated Monday with two metres of water, mixed with furnace oil and sewage.

• Wading through what's covered by insurance, and what's not, in Cape Breton flood

She said she's had little luck with her insurance adjuster. 

"Do I pray for remediation of a house that I can't get insurance on, that nobody in the world is going to buy?" she asked the minister. "It probably should be condemned. Do I pray that it's condemned and start over? What do I pray for?"

Will funding help homeowners?

​The federal government has approved Nova Scotia's formal request for emergency funding, Goodale told Muise.

The federal government will contribute up to 90 per cent of the recovery funding for damage to municipal and provincial infrastructure, but the minister was less clear about whether the funding will help private property owners.

"It can, depending on the definition of the disaster. That's still being worked out," he said. "Where damages of this magnitude are beyond the scope of what one would expect from insurance, the disaster program tries very much to take that into account."

Goodale referenced the flooding in Calgary in 2013 and the Fort McMurray fires this year as examples of how homeowners were helped by disaster relief.

'It's important to get it done'

He said a preliminary estimate of $10 million in damage in Cape Breton "would seem to be eminently reasonable on the basis of what we've seen today," but that a more detailed calculation will come later.

​After his tour of homes, Goodale spoke to the media at Brookland Elementary School, which suffered serious damage when its first floor was flooded.

"They're not going to let red tape stand in the way," Goodale said of provincial and local officials dealing with the disaster. "It's important to get it done. Get the job done."

400 calls in 3 hours

Cecil Clarke, the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said a helpline that became operational at 8 a.m. had received 400 calls in just over three hours from people whose homes or basements had been flooded.

Additionally, a preliminary inspection of homes in the hardest-hit area of Sydney found 17 of 18 are uninhabitable.

CBRM wants to get some relief to those homeowners as early as today or tomorrow, Clarke said.

"For immediate needs ... the municipality follows the provincial per diem rate for expenses, for food and incidentals and we will just use that because that's the audited process we have in place," Clarke said. 

Can't wait for disaster relief

Even if disaster relief becomes available for individual homeowners, Clarke said people can't wait for that.

"We have lots and lots of people that are reporting their food is spoiled, their deep-freeze, their fridge, limited resources, no insurance," the mayor said. "All of this is being taken in account because it's going to stress people when the money is just not there when they need it."

Clarke said he has not heard of any reports yet of home insurance covering damage beyond sewer backup.