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Distaster relief funds available for Kootenay-Boundary flood areas

Flood funds for Boundary

Victims of flooding this spring in the Kootenay-Boundary region are now able to apply for Disaster Financial Assistance from the province. 

Hundreds of properties throughout the Christina Lake, Grand Forks and West Boundary regions were affected by the 2020 spring freshet, with a state of emergency issued, evacuation alerts and orders and high water events.

Uninsurable damage may be eligible for assistance through the DFA. 

Eligible applicants:

  • Homeowners for their principal residence for which they received the Home Owner Grant or were entitled to receive the grant.
  • Residential tenants for the home they occupy and where the majority of their personal effects are located.
  • Small business owners for a business that is managed by the applicant on a day to day basis, is the owner’s major source of income, has gross sales of less than $1 million per year, and employs less than 50 people at any one time.
  • Farmers who own a farm operation that is identified by the BC Assessment Authority as an agricultural operation, is owned and operated by a person whose full time employment is as a farmer, and is the means by which the applicant derives the majority of their income.
  • Charitable organizations that are not-for-profit and provide a benefit or service to the community at large, have existed for at least 12 months, and are registered under the Society Act.

Eligible losses:

  • DFA can compensate individuals for 80 per cent of eligible claims, after the first $1,000 to a maximum claim of $300,000.
  • DFA is only for uninsurable losses and for losses where there is no other program offered by local, provincial, federal or international governments or agencies.
  • DFA is available for essential items only. It provides or reinstates the necessities of life, including help to repair and restore damaged homes and to re-establish or maintain the viability of small businesses and working farms. Loss of land or damage to land (except for some farm land) is not eligible for DFA.

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary advises that applications are due by Sept. 28, 2020. All additional information about the DFA can be found here.  



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