Hundreds of residents in Merritt, B.C., still out of their homes 3½ months after devastating floods
CBC
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When Donna Rae moved to Merritt, B.C., from Vancouver, she bought a small retirement home where she figured she'd spend the rest of her life.
But late last year, that home became filled with mud, water and debris from the Coldwater River — one of many destroyed during devastating floods in November.
Now Rae, 70, says she wishes she'd never moved to the city in B.C.'s southern Interior.
"Now I'm wishing I'd stayed at the coast, so I don't have to deal with this," she said.
In the 3½ months following the floods, Rae, who is currently staying with friends about 20 minutes outside of Merritt, has been working with contractors to bucket mud out of her home's crawl space, tear the building down to the studs and start the rebuilding process.
"It's exhausting. I feel like I have been constantly tired," said Rae, who estimates the total cost of repair will be around $70,000.
Being retired, she says, allowed her the time to find contractors, navigate re-mortgaging and access funding after her insurance rejected her application.
"It's become my full-time job," she said.
Others have not been so lucky.
Kati Spencer bought her home across the street from Rae in July 2021.
"The basement was full when we evacuated," said Spencer, who has stayed in a number of hotels since losing her home.
She had hoped to start repairs right away but the city limited access to her neighbourhood until early December because of safety concerns.
By then, a deep freeze had caused further damage, causing the separating wall and ceiling to droop.
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