The town of Battleford is the latest community to seek provincial assistance after last week’s heavy rain event.
At a special meeting during the noon hour Monday, Battleford voted to apply to have Battleford be designated an eligible area under the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program, so that disaster funding can be provided to those who suffered damage from last week’s heavy rainstorm that hit July 7 and 8.
At the meeting acting town administrator David Gillan said Environment Canada had recorded 155 millimeters of rain had fallen in the Battlefords on that date. The rain resulted in flooding and damage in the community: Gillan said there were reports of flooded basements in the town and there may have been flooding at municipal buildings as well.
Mayor Ames Leslie said he received “half a dozen phone calls” from residents about the damage last week. He did hear that there were a few cases where insurance wasn’t going to cover all the cases.
The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program is a provincial program designed to restore damage suffered during severe weather such as heavy rain. It is last resort program to cover those with uninsurable losses during a natural disaster.
Gillan said people cannot elect out of their insurance for this program. As well, anyone with damage can apply – this was in response to a question from Coun. Gordon Yarde about whether churches were also covered.
The resolution supporting the PDAP application carried unanimously. Gillan said he would be putting the PDAP designation application together this afternoon and send it off, and hisexpectation was they may hear back as soon as tomorrow.
Once the designation is approved, property owners can apply for the assistance. More details on how to apply are expected to be communicated to the public once that happens.
The special meeting was chaired by Coun. Judy Pruden from inside Town Hall, although Mayor Leslie did attend the meeting remotely.
Each community must make its own application for disaster assistance under the program. The City of North Battleford held a special meeting last week to similarly apply for PDAP funding. That application was ultimately approved by the province and residents there can go to www.cityofnb.ca for more information on how to file their claims.
