Flood victims wonder how to survive until State compensation payments

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Officials in Vöyri and Oravais, the two Ostrobothnian communities hit worst by the recent flooding, spent Monday answering perturbed flood victims' questions concerning possible compensation from the government.
      Second Finance Minister Ulla-Maj Wideroos (Swedish People's Party) was also present at the meetings.
      Single parent Edith Drenkhan-Kolehmainen, 35, was one of the flood victims attending the question time. Her two children, 6-year-old Phosephine and her older brother Arthur, 14, accompanied her.
     
Last Wednesday, water forced its way into their home and at one point the water level reached a height of one metre. On Sunday the water inside their home was still 20 centimetres deep in places.
      The family was evacuated to a municipal flat, the rent of which is EUR 700 per month. "Who pays that?" Drenkhan-Kolehmainen asks. According to Drenkhan-Kolehmainen, a nurse's salary is not enough.
     
Getting compensation from the government will take a while. One of the key questions in Ostrobothnia was how to manage until the compensation is paid.
      According to Wideroos, there have been unofficial talks within the government of adding funding to this year's EUR 841,000 flood damage budget. Supplementary budgets, however, won't be processed until the end of the year.
      Chief engineer Jaakko Sierla, from the Water Resources Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, suspected that it would take at least three months for the ministry to reach any decisions.
      The flood victims were advised to file a damage report within a month, which is the time limit set by the law. Applications could be supplemented afterwards.
      "What kind of a damage report should I file when we lost our home?" Drenkhan-Kolehmainen asks.
     
Who will estimate the damage was another question on everybody's lips. The Employment and Economic Development Centre of Southern Ostrobothnia would assist the local authorities in this task.
      Damage to gardens would fall under the crop failure jurisdiction.
      Attendees also wondered from which amount the promised 80% compensation limit would be calculated. Local farmers pointed out that crop failure payments have never been that high. "More like 18 percent" said one bystander.
      Veterinarian Petri Kunnas reminded those attending that for the present well water cannot be used. Sewage waters still churn in wells. A swimming ban is also still in effect.
      Environmental Permit Authorities promised an improvement scheme for the Vöyri River within a month. The permit application has been pending for three years. 


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Oxygen depletion kills fish in Vantaa River - flood damage more costly than expected (9.8.2004)

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