The flooding that occurred in July 2015 is being called the worst disaster to hit Chestermere in its history. Over 300 homes reported flooding damage and from July 12th many residents in our city and Rocky View County were in clean up and rebuild mode.
Some lucked out and were provided significant coverage from their insurance companies and others received little to no support leaving them forced to pay out of pocket for the repairs to their homes and replacing the items that were lost.
The City of Chestermere submitted an application for grant funding to the Province and on December 18, 2015 it was announced that approximately $9 million will be allocated from the province’s Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) to assist in flood recovery for residents in Chestermere and Langdon.
On January 7, 2016, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Honourable Danielle Larivee, held a press conference at the Chestermere Municipal Building to provide further details regarding this flood relief funding and showed great compassion for the affected residents as she
Minister Larivee confirmed that close to $9 million is being released for flood relief to those that were affected by the July 2015 flooding including residential, business and any municipal infrastructure.
Municipal Affairs staff will formally begin accepting applications at a temporary registration center in Chestermere on January 15th and 16th at the Chestermere Recreation Centre (201 West Chestermere Drive) from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and in Langdon on January 14th 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. at 333 Boulder Creek Drive.
The Alberta Emergency Management Agency states that “Principal homeowners, tenants, small business owners, agricultural operators, condominium corporations, public institutions and not-for-profit organizations who meet the qualification criteria may have their damages and losses assessed by the DRP for eligibility”.
When you come to register, it is important to know the following and come prepared:
• Bring a piece of government-issued photo ID and your insurance letter (see below), if obtained ahead of time.
• If you are a homeowner and the address on your ID does not match the address of your damaged property, we suggest taking along copies of two separate documents which substantiates the property as your principal residence. They may be utility bills, the front page of your insurance policy stating that the property is insured and is your principal residence or the address shown on a current tax return.
• If you were a tenant at the property during the time of the disaster, please bring along a copy of the lease agreement that was in place.
• You may also wish to prepare an inventory, (including pictures, if possible) of all damaged and lost items ahead of time as we will ask you to fill out a Statement of Loss or Damage with your application.
• You should also document any time that you or anyone else that came into your home to help in the clean-up.
• Non-residential applicants (e.g. small business owners, condominium corporations, etc.) might wish to prepare copies of the required tax and registry documents listed under Qualification Requirements and submit them along with their application package to facilitate qualification screening.
• Once your application is received, you will be contacted by a case manager who will process application from start to finish.
It is also required that you bring a letter from your insurance provider outlining the coverage – or lack of coverage. If you have this already, you are encouraged to bring it with you when you register. This letter must be submitted within 30 days of your application and should include the following:
• Name of the insured policy holder
• The policy number
• Date of loss
• Date on which the insurance provider was notified of the loss
• Address or legal rural land description of the damaged property
• The type of damage or loss
• The cause of the damage or loss
• Action taken by the insurance provider
• Name and phone number of the insurance broker/agent
• Signature of authorized insurance agent
• The insurance letter must be on official letterhead. If no action was taken by the insurance provider, the letter must state:
• That the damage or loss is not covered by the policy
• The reasons why there is no coverage
Processing times of these applications are very specific and will be dealt with on a case by case basis. The Minister also stated that each applicant will be assigned a DRP caseworker that will provide them one on one care through the entire process.
Some residents were in attendance and stressed their concerns regarding the qualifications and if there will be distinction between sewer back up and over land flooding. DRP Executive Director, Recovery – Brad Geddes assured residents that they will do everything possible to help as many of the affected applicants as possible.
Mayor Patricia Matthews commented, “We were very pleased to have the Minister of Municipal Affairs here in our community to announce the support for flood affected residents and businesses who didn’t have insurance coverage through the DRP”.
Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer was also in attendance and spoke to the flood funding saying, “The Wildrose is happy to see the government providing this much needed funding to help families get back on their feet after the flood last summer. We still have some questions around the process and eligibility surrounding DRP funding and look forward to more clarity as things progress. I would personally like to thank Minister Larivee, the City of Chestermere, and Rocky View for the ongoing efforts to help those in need”.
To find out more, please visit www.aema.alberta.ca/disaster-recovery-programs#drpqualify03
Applications must be received by March 16, 2016.
