Months after May derecho, but still not back home: One family's story

More than six months after a powerful derecho storm ripped through the region, some people are still not back in their homes.

Stephane Wolfe’s family of six is living in a temporary property after their home and barn in Clarence-Rockland was destroyed from the disastrous storm in May.

“We are only two weeks away from Christmas and we don’t know when it’s going to be resolved,” said Wolfe.

For months, they lived in a trailer on the property, but now with the arrival of the cold weather, they’ve been forced to relocate a half-hour away to another property temporarily.

It means they won’t be home for the holidays.

“We had renovated all of the barn to our needs and less than five minutes later everything was gone,” he said.

The storm caused millions of dollars in damage at the property.

“The past five months, we were living in a camper and that was quite the experience for the time,” he said.

Wolfe is looking into securing contractors to start the work in 2023.

“The insurance came through with money, but just waiting to see if we have enough to repair it or what to do with it next because it seems a lot of damage to repair on a short period of time,” said Wolfe.

The MPP for the area says many families are still trying to rebuild their lives. They’re delayed, he says, because the Ford government did not offer disaster relief to all parts of eastern Ontario.

“The derecho in May was the worst natural disaster in Ontario in a generation; I believe it’s well over a billion dollars in damage across the province,” said Stephen Blais, Liberal MPP for Orléans. “The disaster relief program was activated in Uxbridge for the same storm, but for some reason it has not been activated in Ottawa and that’s a major problem, something that I’ve asked the government about.”

• RELATED: City to write to province again to request disaster funding following May 21 storm

The disaster recovery assistance for Ontarians program allows homeowners and farms to submit claims for financial aid, but only if the province specifically designates an area as eligible.

For Wolfe, it’s still a long journey before his family can go home.

“Trying to get contractors, trying to get quotes, and figuring out what I want to do next,” he said.