Gaps in funding for flood relief worry Canmore residents
Vacation homes not covered
CANMORE — Residents in Canmore, Exshaw and Lac Des Arcs who lost homes due to erosion or flooding are raising their frustrations with the province about gaps in its compensation program.
On Monday evening, the province held an information session in Canmore to answer questions about its flood mapping and disaster relief program.
“You will have choices,” said Jim Cornish, director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”
In Canmore, the normally tranquil Cougar Creek that runs through the mountain town became a raging river on June 19 and 20. It led to evacuation notices for 1,200 residents and damaged dozens of properties along the creek’s widened banks.
Another 120 homes in Exshaw have been damaged and at least one home has been destroyed in Lac Des Arcs.
Concerns were raised by residents who either sustained damage due to the erosion at Cougar Creek, lost vacation properties in the area or felt they won’t be compensated for the full cost of their luxury homes.
“The policy put in place by the government is basically BS,” said resident Benny Ryan, noting it punishes people with expensive or second homes.
Officials with the province said vacation homes won’t be compensated by the disaster recovery program, which covers only primary residences at the cost of an average home in the community.
“That’s what a lot of the compensation for the disaster falls under,” said Kyle Fawcett, associate minister of recovery and reconstruction for southwest Alberta. “A lot of the damage has been caused by an event you cannot get insurance for, and that’s overland flooding.
“There are unique circumstances that fall outside of the disaster recovery program.”
Fawcett said those circumstances — such as those experienced by residents along Cougar Creek who lost their backyards due to erosion — will be addressed over time.
“The challenge that we have ... is that there is significant damage,” he said. “We’ve got to try to rebuild our communities within the financial capabilities that we have.”
Provincial officials said they would also be taking a closer look at mountain hydrology and how that affects communities such as Canmore — a concern raised by residents who have watched Cougar Creek flood for each of the past two years.