Those affected by spring flooding in the county will be able to receive relief money. The Government of Alberta has approved funding for the County of Grande Prairie, Town of Sexsmith and Village of Hythe. Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson says out of $29.1 million given out because of flooding, $3.6 million of that will go to the county.
“Up in Grande Prairie, there are four different communities and in particular, the county of Grande Prairie will be getting 3.6 million.”
This is not the first time the area has applied for disaster relief. A similar process happened in August 2016 when a reported 9.2 millimetres of rain fell in Grande Prairie in just a few hours. A disaster relief team visited the city in July 2017 and approved $4.8 million in funding.
The latest round of money was offered after a rapid spring thaw caused both Bear Creek and the Beaverlodge River to flood in April. That lead to the closure of several County roads. CAO Bill Rogan said previously that repairs to county infrastructure after that storm were estimated at $3.5 million.
Anderson says residents will be able to apply to receive funds in a few months after the money is released.
“What we’ll be doing is setting up program centres in the communities in the coming months that residents can go to… to apply for funding which will go to things like clean up costs and repairing the uninsurable damage.”
A total of 33 communities across the province will receive just over $39 million in funding. The Disaster Recovery Program was created to help communities recover from things like floods, wildfires and strong winds.