Goderich residents show resilience

Seventy-two hours after a deadly tornado, the town of Goderich is beginning to recover.

With building inspectors working their way through the devastation, more structures are being declared safe and people are being allowed to return to some neighbourhoods.

“The human resiliency is impressive yet again,” says John Saunders with the Red Cross, who is on the ground in Goderich.

Saunders says Goderich residents are understandably “jittery” today as Environment Canada watches a storm system that could see more tornadoes forming. But he says people continue to cope and focus on the task at hand.

Aside from building inspections, cleaning up debris and downed trees is a real focus of the relief and recovery efforts.

“The chipper trucks and sound of chainsaws are heard in the air across the town,” Saunders describes. “And we are seeing that they are able to reduce the area that is restricted as more and more buildings are inspected to make sure that people can start moving back into their areas.”

On the relief side, the Red Cross is part of a co-ordinated effort that involves several teams, including the Salvation Army.

One thing Saunders warns about is well-intentioned people who simply show up in Goderich hoping to help out.

“People are motivated to do something and that’s laudable,” Saunders says. “But if you do not have skills and you have never worked within a disaster zone, now is not the time to self-deploy.”

Instead, Saunders points anyone hoping to help to the town’s established relief fund. It’s through that fund, he says, that donations will be matched dollar for dollar from Ontario’s Disaster Relief Assistance Program. Donations made directly to the Red Cross will support volunteer training for Goderich and other agency relief efforts.

The United Way has also started a Goderich tornado Relief Fund. Details can be found at www.perthhuron.unitedway.ca. In Waterloo Region, the United Way of Kitchener Waterloo & Area has offered to help by supporting text donations with the help of Libro Financial in Kitchener-Waterloo. And you can get updated information on relief and recovery efforts by visiting the website for the Town of Goderich at www.goderich.ca.

“There’s a lot to be proud of and they want to get their town back to the shining jewel that it’s been known for around the world,” says Saunders.

Provincial police, meantime, are dismissing rumours that there have been more deaths connected to the tornado. The official numbers still state that one man was killed and 37 people injured by Sunday’s twister. Police say they will look at ways of better dispelling rumours.