6 months after tornado, Gatineau neighbourhood remains a ghost town

It took a tornado just 30 seconds to tear a swath of destruction through Gatineau's Mont-Bleu sector, but it's taken more than six months for many of those affected to begin rebuilding their shattered lives.

Six tornadoes ripped through the Ottawa-Gatineau region on Sept. 21, destroying hundreds of homes and leaving tens of thousands without power.

• The Ottawa-Gatineau tornadoes, by the numbers
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Although life is gradually returning to normal for some victims, many say they still have a long road ahead

Brenda Tite considers herself one of the lucky ones — her damaged Mont-Bleu apartment building escaped demolition, and she was able to return home on Feb. 15.

This neighbourhood is completely dead now.- Brenda Tite, Mont-Bleu resident

Tite, who runs a retirement home for eight seniors on the building's ground floor, said the painful memories of that day will take longer to recover from.

"The course of our lives changed in the space of 30 seconds," she said in French.

"In hindsight, we're lucky because we haven't developed depression. Obviously, moving three times is frustrating. You're not at home, you don't have your routine."

While she feels like life is gradually getting back on track, witnessing the tornado's lasting effect on the once-lively neighbourhood has been difficult, Tite said.

"When we go out and see the area, it's still a shock. It's devastated. This neighbourhood is completely dead now."

Painful memories

The memory of the tornado still weighs on Florence Mekam-Ngoungueu, too. She was driving with two of her three children not far from her home when the storm struck. When the dust cleared, the devastation was astounding.

"We were desolate, in a stupor," Mekam-Ngoungueu recalled. 

The family has now moved to the Plateau district, one of many to leave Mont-Bleu.

"Here, we're pretty good," she said.

200 families relocated

L'Office de l'habitation de l'Outaouais, the housing agency for the region, immediately offered assistance to tornado victims.

The agency benefited from lessons learned during the 2017 floods, said spokesperson Karina Osiecka, and was able to move relatively quickly.

Since September, the agency has helped relocate about 60 families to subsidized housing, while another 140 have found new homes through a rent supplement program involving the private sector. Many moved away from Mont-Bleu.

Rent increases

On the other hand, rising rent and a shortage of available units have combined to make the job of relocating tornado victims difficult, Osiecka said. While some private landlords have been helpful, others have not.

"Of course we find it sad that there may be ... people who have benefited from this situation," she said.

The agency was hoping to get everyone settled by Christmas, but has discovered some people who had found temporary housing were still looking for a permanent place to stay in the new year.

Osiecka said the agency has only four remaining files, six months after the tornados struck.