He lost everything to the July 8 flood except for a tiny tent in his backyard. Now he’s lost that too.

Ken Hills, 60, says the portable canvas shelter that has served as his home for the last two weeks was blown beyond sight during last Friday’s severe thunderstorm. Since then, he’s been living outdoors, Survivorman style.

“I spend all my day outside as much as I can,” said Hills, whose Mississauga basement apartment was destroyed after several feet of water rushed in through his floor drains and back door. “I don’t want to be inside with all that mould and mildew.”

Hills says a local friend let him spend a couple nights at his house when he went out of town with his girlfriend. The rest of the time, he’s resorted to sleeping in his putrid basement on an old camp cot, but only as long as he needs to.

“I figure it’s not too healthy to be in there,” said Hills, who is currently unemployed.

Hills is one of hundreds of residents along Cooksville Creek who have been displaced from their homes since last week’s deluge. A community meeting for affected residents was held Thursday night by Councilor Jim Tovey, who represents the ward, as well as Peel Region and Mississauga city staff.

Wendy Alexander, Mississauga’s director of transportation and infrastructure planning, says the city still has no initiatives to assist displaced residents.

“We’re still trying to gather information about who was flooded and under what circumstances,” she said. “We’re still in immediate cleanup and damage assessment mode. As soon as we’re done with that, we’ll move onto ‘what information do we have and what steps do we take moving forward’ mode.”

Hills, meanwhile, says he has received some financial assistance from Ontario Works. He also notes kind strangers have been dropping by and providing him with clothes and cash donations.

He hopes to begin looking for work again once he’s able to look presentable enough for a job interview.

But he’s unsure of where he’ll sleep come Saturday, when a repair crew will arrive to reconstruct his basement apartment, a job that could take at least a week.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to survive,” he said. “Another tent would be nice.”

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