My sister, Anne, who sent the early reports from Goderich post-tornado, has sent an update on how people are managing and how businesses are trying to accommodate their customers. Many banks and services are located on the gorgeous and now ruined city square. As Anne mentions, the bank, the post office, the credit union as well as the lovely Victoria St. church all suffered damage, some of it very extensive. The photos show an old picture postcard of the square taken even before the storm several years ago had leveled most of the trees in the heart of the city, and a photo from the London Free Press that shows the square after the tornado. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.
Here's Anne's latest front-line report:
I will visit Mom and Dad tomorrow and have a look around town. They bank at TD Canada Trust and it will be some time before the TD branch is open in Goderich again. The TD is right across the street from Victoria Street United Church, the church that was so extensively photographed. Needless to say, the TD Bank also had extensive damage. They have a contingency plan that I located on line and have printed out for Mom so she knows what she needs to do. TD customers can use any ATM in town that is working and all fees charged by an ATM or any other financial institution will be fully reimbursed by TD for as long as the Goderich branch is closed. The are also running a free shuttle service every hour on the hour starting at 10 am Monday to Friday to the TD bank in Seaforth for any customer who needs to visit a TD branch. I thought that was very nice and unexpected.
Mail service, or a fashion of same began again in Goderich today. You need to pick up your mail at the Suncoast Mall as there will not be home delivery for some time to come. I expect the line ups were very long today. Mom thought she may wait until tomorrow to go as she did not want to wait in an hour long line. I can take her there tomorrow morning and we can wait together.
Our next door neighbor visited yesterday. He works for a large construction company here in Huron County. He was telling me that they had a meeting Friday at the end of the work day and were advised that as of today, there will be work available 7 days a week and they would like them all to consider a 7 day work week as so many buildings need repair before the snow flies. They have already replaced trusses and the roof on the Goderich Credit Union and there are many more to do.
There is a Goderich town counselor who reports all the new developments each day on the local radio at 8 am. He is homeless due to the tornado and sleeps and takes his meals in the homes of various people around town. He is a remarkable individual. He is always upbeat, always laughing and quick to find the humor in almost any circumstance in spite of his current situation. Today, after his official report he explained that he went to London on Sunday for the day. He needed to get away, have a bit of a break. I can understand that, being in Goderich day after day affects you emotionally. He said he went to the Masonville Mall in London and was stopped by people in the mall parking lot when they saw his Goderich license plate. He was overwhelmed by the concern and good wishes he received from total strangers when they saw where he was from. I thought that was nice. It sure made him feel better. I doubt those people who took the time to speak to him have any idea how much that meant to him and how deserving he was of their good intentions.
A good friend of ours, Doran Love, the retired manager of the Goderich Scotia Bank has been chosen as one of the representatives on the Goderich Reimbursement Committee. The committee will be mandated with the task of allocating disaster funds granted to Goderich by the provincial and federal government based on an application process. People who have no insurance, not enough insurance to rebuild their homes, as well as heritage building restoration requests will be reviewed by this committee. It will be a difficult, unenviable task but Doran is well suited to the job. He is a lovely man, well respected, hard working and very community minded aside from being a good businessman.
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