North Dumfries council gets Ayr tornado cost breakdown

Considering the damage, the cost of clean-up following the tornado that struck the village of Ayr in Aug. seems fairly manageable for the Township of North Dumfries.

On Aug. 17, an EF-2 tornado touched down just north of the village, carving a seven kilometre-long swath of damage along the banks of the Nith River.

Thankfully, nobody was injured – but there was fairly significant damage to some homes and businesses, and to the infrastructure at Cowan Park.

Thanks to its insurance policy, the township was not on the hook for repairs at the park: insurance covered the costs to fix the beach volleyball court, splash pad, playground equipment, fence and roof repairs to the picnic shelter and washroom building, community garden building, lighting and other assets. The township did have to pay a standard deductible

The policy did not cover the cost to replace damaged trees; though the township did that back in September when they approved $8,500 for 17 trees in the park.

Coming out of the township coffers was the overtime paid to staff and volunteer firefighters who were some of the first to respond in the aftermath of the twister. That bill came in at $7,517.

The largest line-item by far was the costs to hire outside companies to assist with removing debris and downed trees on private property along Greenfield rd. That cost the township $16,968.

In total, the township incurred costs totalling $24,485.