The Alberta government has responded to a storm that caused flooding and hail damage in Airdrie, Rocky View County (RVC) and Calgary by approving a disaster relief program (DRP).
The DRP was announced June 25. According to a press release from the government, the program was established to help residents of Airdrie, RVC and Calgary – as well as the municipalities themselves – recover from uninsurable loss and damages caused “by overland flooding from extraordinary rainfall June 13.”
“What this will cover is the uninsurable damage,” said Tim Gerwing, press secretary with Municipal Affairs. “That is, in this case, damage to public infrastructure, emergency response costs and there are some cases of overland flooding where heavy rainfall caused enough damage where the DRP will cover it.”
According to Gerwing, the financial implications of the storm are still unknown and the government does not know how much money will be distributed through the DRP.
“We haven’t received anything official on that yet,” he said. “If it is insurable damage, we want the insurance industry to do their jobs.”
Gerwing added the government has been in contact with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), who said there have been 35,000 insurance applications since the storm.
“Ninety-nine per cent have been approved,” Gerwing said. “The insurance industry is there. These [situations] are really their time to shine.”
Gerwing said hail, sewer backup and insurance deductibles do not qualify under the DRP, as insurance coverage is considered reasonably and readily available.
According to Gerwing, although the funding set for Calgary and area is currently unknown, it is “probably going to be significantly less than Fort McMurray.”
Fort McMurray saw substantial floods April 26 and 27, which caused 13,000 residents to evacuate their homes. The Alberta government announced May 8 it would approve $147 million in disaster relief funding to help Fort McMurray rebuild.
“The damage done in Fort McMurray was all uninsurable because of overland flooding,” Gerwing said. “This is going to be mostly insurable.”
Mayor Peter Brown said most of the damaged in Airdrie was caused by hail, which wouldn’t qualify to benefit from the DRP.
“Any kind of funding that can help people through a disaster, I am supportive [of],” Brown said. “I just don’t know, based off what I have read, if it will be a significant contributor in Airdrie.”
Brown added the program would be more beneficial for Calgary, which saw overland flooding in many areas.
Rocky View County (RVC) Reeve Greg Boehlke said the County saw about 80 vehicles and pieces of equipment damaged. With roads and culverts that were washed out by the storm, he said damage in the county totalled around $100,000, which is mostly insured.
"We will have some [damage] that we'll hopefully rely on the government to help us out," said Boehlke. "It may be in the end a pretty minimal effect on the DRP. How much actual claims will be through the province, I could not hazard a guess at this time."
Boehlke added RVC was very fortunate it did not sustain an extreme amount of damage.
"There is nothing minimal about the 80 pieces of equipment that was damaged," he said. "But again, they are all insured."
Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @Jay_Strickz
