Tornado victims hurt by looting, ‘tourism’

A disaster relief organization run by five community groups has hired a private security company to patrol Dunrobin in response to reports of looting and “disaster tourism” that have left residents feeling edgy.

Len Russell, secretary of West Carleton Disaster Relief, says he has seen reports of stolen items including power tools, a generator and a 10-foot ladder since the tornado of Sept. 21.

Reports of looting started to drift in the day after the tornado struck. About a week later, Ottawa police hired a security company to patrol the area. But the measure wasn’t very effective, Russell said.

On Oct. 25, the city decided it would no longer pay for the security company’s services, but there were still a lot of people driving around, gawking at the damage.

“I was OK with hiring a security company because police cost so much money,” Russell said. “The problem was that these houses were very damaged. Because they were unattended, they’re like gold to these people. It’s very disconcerting for the people still living in their houses to see all these cars driving slowly past.”

Angela Bernhardt, vice-president of West Carleton Disaster Relief, said she has heard of multiple cases of looting from the metal storage containers homeowners have rented to store their belongings in while their homes are repaired or demolished. The containers are typically locked using padlocks.

“I can’t even wrap my head around doing such a thing,” she said of stealing from tornado victims.

“Who would take from someone who has lost so much?”

Living in the midst of darkened and abandoned houses, the remaining residents have felt very vulnerable, especially since there have been a lot of cars driving around to look at the damage, and the security guards hired by the police did little to prevent it, Russell said.

“It was a very passive form of security. They (the security guards) were basically stationary.”

After West Carleton Disaster Relief complained to police, the security guards were more active.

Francis Kane still lives in his damaged home in Dunrobin, but almost half of the houses on his street are unoccupied and two have already been demolished. The half-empty feeling of the neighbourhood has left everyone feeling on edge, he said. He said he would like to see more regular patrols.

“There are people roaming around. Maybe they want to see what it looks like after a tornado hits. But maybe they’re looking to see what’s around (to steal),” he said. “Our backs are up, no matter who is coming into the neighbourhood.”

Russell agrees. “It’s really creepy when three-quarters of the houses on each street are dark,” he said.

Mike Fines ran the LCBO store adjoining the Dunrobin Meat and Grocery, which was operated by his wife, Julie, and sister-in-law Cindy Delahunt.

Fines said he called on his brother-in-law and a friend to help stand guard as soon as they heard the store had been hit by a tornado. But it was impossible to monitor the store all the time, and he was told to leave in any case. On several occasions after the tornado, the back doors that led to the storage area had been left open by unknown people. It was apparent that bottles had been taken from the shelves.

“But it’s one thing to steal from a store, and another thing to take someone’s personal possessions,” he said.

Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, who represents the ward, said he has been in talks with police to see if they could step up patrols. It’s just as much about keeping disaster tourists away as it is about preventing looting, he said.

El-Chantiry said police told him they have only had one official theft report.

He urges victims of looting to report incidents to police.

“If people don’t report it, they’re not helping. I have to show some evidence.”

Russell said he’s been livid at times.

“After losing your house, if you lose your TV, it’s not a big financial hit. But it’s the sense of violation. When you lose your house, you have to make 10,000 phone calls. In the grand scheme of things, making a useless phone call to police doesn’t seem that important,” Russell said.

“You have people in a vulnerable state. People expected a better response.”

More than 70 houses in Dunrobin are still unoccupied, and there are between 25 and 30 storage containers still on site, Russell said.

The security company hired by West Carleton Disaster Relief has been in place for about a week now, and things have “settled down,” he said.

The ultimate goal is to keep the storage containers in place until they be taken to a secure location.

Police did not respond to a request for comment.

West Carleton Disaster Relief has received $75,565 in donations as of Oct. 31 and has allocated all of the funds to eight different programs, including $500 payments to each of 118 families, as well as payments to reconnect utilities and shipping containers for tornado-affected farms.