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Flood funding finally comes in

Municipal Affairs has approved the Town of Westlock’s application for financial assistance through the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) for damage incurred in the Aug. 22, 2016 overland flood as part of $4.
Municipal Affairs has approved the Town of Westlock’s application for financial assistance through the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) for damage incurred in the Aug. 22,
Municipal Affairs has approved the Town of Westlock’s application for financial assistance through the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) for damage incurred in the Aug. 22, 2016 overland flood as part of $4.87 million in funding for five municipalities.

Municipal Affairs has approved the Town of Westlock’s application for financial assistance through the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) for damage incurred in the Aug. 22, 2016 overland flood as part of $4.87 million in funding for five municipalities.

Westlock will receive an estimated $690,000 of DRP assistance to cover the town’s application, which includes 77 applications from residents for financial relief.

A total of $800,000 in damage claims were submitted to the Town of Westlock last December, with 38 residential claims totaling just over $591,000 and 12 non-residential claims at near $199,800.

The town itself estimated damage to infrastructure at roughly $125,000.

An order in council approved by Municipal Affairs minister Shaye Anderson on Oct. 26 declared the flooding in north central Alberta from Aug. 21-23 of 2016 to be a disaster “in accordance with section 7 of the Fiscal Planning and Transparency Act.”

“We are delivering on our promise to support municipalities and Albertans in times of emergency,” said Anderson in an e-mail.

“This funding will help 12 communities and their residents who have faced extraordinary loss and damage to their homes and public infrastructure to rebuild and recover without carrying a heavy financial burden.”

Municipal Affairs press secretary Lauren Arscott told the Westlock News that staff from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) would soon be contacting municipalities to begin the rollout.

The decision comes a year after the town applied for the program and 14 months since the actual flood, which saw nearly 90 millimetres of rainfall within one hour, submerging many basements and streets.

Westlock mayor Ralph Leriger said he was happy to hear the news, though given the amount of time that had passed already, he was taking a wait-and-see approach to the province’s response.

“We’ll see how that plays out,” he said. “But I guess better late than never.”

He pointed out that while the town was getting the DRP funding it applied for, there was still the question of uninsured residences and business owners waiting to see if they would get financial relief.

“We still have a hope that through this process that the government will sit down with those people and talk about the uninsured losses that they have to see if any of that is going to be covered as well,” he said.

Also included in the order are the Town of Drayton Valley, Yellowhead County, Lac Ste. Anne County and the County of Westaskiwin.

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