The mayor of Leamington, Ont., is asking the province to provide immediate aid for residents whose homes were damaged by the tornado that struck the community Sunday.
John Adams says he spoke to Premier Dalton McGuinty on the phone Monday afternoon to see what short- and long-term help the province could provide.
"What I asked him was if there was any assistance we could get immediately, within the next couple of days," Adams told The Canadian Press.
"That's for people whose homes were totally demolished and their insurance won't cover it right away. So, we're trying to speed things up as fast as we can."
The southwestern Ontario community of roughly 30,000 will benefit from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program, which covers the costs of returning essential items to their pre-disaster state, the mayor said.
Officials say the municipality will remain under a state of emergency until power is fully restored, probably late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Hundreds of residents were still without power Tuesday morning as cleanup continued in the aftermath of the wild storm, now classified by Environment Canada as an F1 or low-grade tornado and wind downburst.
