Dream home property damaged by flooding

A rural Thunder Bay couple blames a blocked culvert and inaction by officials for ruining their dream property — and they're waiting to find out who's going to pay for the damage.

When Robert Casavant and Joanne Cannady moved from Calgary five years ago and bought a home on Highway 61 in Neebing, they were hoping a less stressful life in the country would help relieve Casavant's heart condition.

But stress soon followed one morning in May.

"We woke up about 7:15 a.m. … looked out the window and, instead of seeing green grass, we saw grey water and lots of it," Cannady said. "We called 911 and asked for a rescue."

Heavy rains had produced water that overwhelmed a nearby culvert, which backed up and swamped their property.

The couple had to be rescued by canoe.

"We put the cat and dog on the second level of the house, my husband grabbed for the phone and I grabbed four suitcases."

Cannady said the aftermath has been devastating.                                   

"I lost my job because I was unable to rescue my home and work at the same time," she said. "We are trying to pick up the pieces."

Little action

Casavant said he had concerns about the maintenance of the culvert from the time they moved in, and he contacted the Ministry of Transportation and the contractor it hired to maintain the highway, on numerous occasions.

"We noticed that every time we'd go, the culvert was getting more and more clogged up."

But there was little action from those he contacted, Casavant said.

During the flood, "the water destroyed the whole first floor in our house, our vehicle, our log splitter. We lost about 200 feet of fence. We had to evacuate our horses. We were seriously concerned about another flood that would finish off whatever we had left."

The couple said the culvert was eventually replaced over the course of five weeks.

In a written response to CBC News the ministry confirmed "the culvert on Highway 61 adjacent to the property in question has been recently repaired and will be further reviewed by our engineering staff.  If additional work is warranted, improvements will be undertaken during an upcoming pavement rehabilitation project on Highway 61."

Casavant and Cannady said insurance covered damages inside their home, but they said no one's accepted responsibility — or offered compensation — for the estimated $80,000 in damages to their grounds and machinery.

After the CBC contacted the ministry about this story, the ministry contacted Casavant and Cannady. The couple said a spokesperson promised pressure would be put on the highway contractor to come up with a solution. In its statement to CBC News, the ministry said "flood damage claims against the ministry are handled by the Ministry of Government Services."