Langdon finally receives flood relief

Miriam Ostermann

Times Associate Editor

 

Albeit months of waiting and lowered expectations, Rocky View County and Chestermere received the thumbs up for anticipated provincial disaster funding to aid in the repairs of damages sustained in last year’s vigorous July rainstorm.
The Alberta government announced an estimated $9 million to be allocated from the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) to eligible residents of Langdon – a hamlet in Rocky View County – and Chestermere.
On July 12, 2015, a significant rainstorm swept through the areas causing damage to roughly 50 homes in Langdon and some county infrastructure. Numerous lightning strikes hit several control panels, and residents responded with pumps and rented equipment to detour the water away from the hamlet when the system failed.
“It was your 100-year-rain event,” said Randy Smith, manager of fire services and instructor of emergency management. “There was so much rain in such a short period of time that the facilities could not handle moving the water away from the community. Then, with the lightning strikes and the pumping system going down at the retention pond, it just added to it and a lot of basements were flooded.”
The DRP focuses on helping eligible applicants with funds for repairs to their properties that are not covered by insurance, and aims to restore the property back to conditions observed prior to the disaster.
While the program does not cover damage deemed entirely caused by sewer backup, assistance may be available where the damage is a result of a combination of groundwater flooding and sewer backup.
“By providing disaster relief to residents whose homes were damaged by the July flood, it’s my hope we can relieve some of the anxiety and financial stress caused by the storm,” said Danielle Larivee, minister of Municipal Affairs in a statement.
“This support is one way our government is working to help the municipalities of Chestermere and Rocky View County recover and rebuild.”
Since an application was submitted to the Alberta government on July 29, the announcement of approval after a nearly half-a-year wait time was welcomed in the hamlet but proved unexpected.
“I didn’t think it was going to be approved and I know the City of Calgary from their Snomageddon application was turned down, and because it took so long I thought maybe this was something that wasn’t going to get funded,” Smith said.
“I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see that we’re able to support Langdon and people in the Conrich area as well as Chestermere made a similar application. It’s not insurance, it’s to kind of put you back on your feet. If you had an 84-inch high definition 3D TV you’re not going to get a new one… it’s just to get you another TV. Each situation is going to be a little bit different.”
Residents are encouraged to attend temporary registration centres to receive help with the DRP applications. A centre in Rocky View County will open at 333 Boulder Creek Drive on Jan. 14 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The centre in Chestermere will open on Jan. 15 and 16. Applicants are required to bring government-issued ID, a letter indicating insurance coverage, a list of damaged or replaced items, a record of time spent cleaning up, pictures of damaged or discarded property, and receipts for clean-up, repairs, and replacement of damaged items. More information on registration centre locations, hours and the process can be found on the Alberta Government Disaster Recovery Program website. Deadline for applications is March 16.