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The problem is that the road is very low and it floods. Morin and Joanis have been asking the city to raise the road level for several years.

“The biggest issue with being the sole residents there is we are not being recognized by the City of Ottawa as a home there,” he said.

“When all the evacuations took place, they never evacuated us. We were never part of any discussions with regard to flooding, warnings, evacuation or emergency services. They don’t even acknowledge that there are residents there.

Photo by Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia

“The road was closed 43 days last year, so 43 days we did not have access to our residence.” Sometimes they took a truck that could go where a car could not and sometimes they took a small aluminum boat.

Then the flood came and they were more cut off. The couple had generators running to keep the power on, but these needed refuelling. Morin had to pass a barrier, and he would leave his car parked on the way.

“Every single time, we’ve got bylaw (officers), police.”

Officers threatened to give them tickets for passing the barrier, but have so far relented after the couple explained, he said.

“We have no acknowledgment from the city that we’re in a crisis and we are trying to deal with it,” he said.

Morin said a meeting with city officials is set for Friday.

Photo by Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia

“We either want the city to say, ‘We don’t want a property there, we’ll buy you out,’ or, ‘We do want a property there.’ ”

If the home stays, he said, then it needs dependable road access. “And our emergency services need to have a clear understanding that there are actually people there.”

The road flooded so quickly that there was no time to bring in sandbags, he said. Water filled the basement but stopped just below the main floor.

They were able to pump it out on Sunday. A disaster repair crew has now started work, getting in by boat.

City hall’s media office said Thursday it wouldn’t answer questions about the issue of access and emergency services “due to privacy issues.”

tspears@postmedia.com

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