6 months after historic floods some British Columbians still don't have a home
CBC
For seven years, Katrina Page took comfort watching the Coquihalla River flow past her home in Hope, B.C., about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver.
Page, 59, recalls days picking fresh fruit from the orchard, listening to the birds sing and swaying in hammocks underneath a forest of firs, balsams and maples, all in the shadow of Hope's mountains.
"It was a perfect place to be," said Page, who now watches excavators plow over sediment and pick up debris from where her home once stood.
The river no longer provides comfort to Page who lived on the property with her husband and two dogs and where she would often receive her four children and 12 grandchildren.
In late November, the river ripped through their home and washed it away following historic rainfall and floods that ravaged parts of British Columbia. She and her husband are among more than 1,100 British Columbians still displaced from their homes.
"We lost everything," said Page, whose one-storey home was mortgage-free.
Six months later, Page is living in a trailer on her neighbour's property. And many other flood-displaced residents like her are still waiting for answers about the future of their finances and homes.
The provincial government has distributed nearly $7 million from its Disaster Financial Assistance program. For people like Page, the fund only compensated them for a portion of their losses.
Many people who lost their homes still cannot find affordable housing, including people who rented their homes. Some have called on the province to increase the money available for flood relief.
"There's no way we can afford to stay here," Page said. "So, I don't know where we're going to end up."
Page says she's still waiting in limbo for a permanent home. Her property did not qualify for flood insurance because they live on a floodplain. The province's Disaster Financial Aid program offers support for uninsurable losses, such as repairing and restoring damaged homes. Depending on the destruction, people can receive up to $300,000.
The province has offered Page compensation from the relief fund. She did not provide the exact amount but said it's "a pittance." She says her property is roughly worth $850,000.
She is hoping the province will pay her the market value for the property but has heard no updates yet.
"I don't think I could sleep at night here anymore. So we're hoping. A buyout would be really nice."
