As an “insane” amount of rain was dousing Red Deer in mid-July, Scott Martin was on the roof of his rental property trying to fix the eavestroughs.
Suddenly the storm door of his house in the Bower neighbourhood blew off and rain began soaking the front foyer, Martin recalled.
By the time his tenant told him the basement was also flooding through an apparent crack in the foundation, “my heart went into my throat,” said Martin, who incurred a total of about $4,000 in water damage.
Optimistically, he expected it would be covered by insurance — it wasn’t.
Like many Central Albertans, Martin discovered the hard way that private insurance companies do not cover overland flooding or the kind of seepage caused by foundation cracks.
Fortunately for Martin and up to 1,000 other Red Deer residents with uninsured flood damage, the provincial government has stepped in with disaster recovery assistance.
“I’d like to praise our government for taking care of us,” said Martin, who was one of dozens of city residents filling out forms on Monday for the provincial government’s disaster recovery program at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre. The same opportunity continues from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Wednesday — after which residents can still obtain forms, complete them, and mail them in themselves.
Alberta Municipal Affairs public affairs officer Rosemary Austen said the government recognizes that unusual events, such as last July’s torrential downpour over two-and-a-half days, can happen and leave many Albertans in the lurch.
“We don’t have to leave people to fend for themselves. We can help them get back on their feet,” said Austen, who added there’s no longer an overall cap on the government program.
Applicants will still have to wait, however, to see how much of their claim will be reimbursed by the province.
Jerry Maynard and his wife Connie, who live in Rosedale, are just thrilled the program is available.
“We’re very happy — not only for ourselves, but for everybody else here,” said Connie, who added their five-year-old condo sustained about $4,000 in damages — mostly to basement carpeting and drywall.
If the program didn’t exist, the Maynards, who are on a fixed retirement income, said they would have been forced to dig into their savings during a year in which they’ve already had to fork out for other household repairs and appliance replacements.
They are waiting to see how much the province will give them before they begin replacing the waterlogged materials.
Damage recovery claim application centres will also run at the Innisfail town office on Wednesday, the Ponoka fire hall on Thursday and Friday, the Castor town office on Thursday, and Hardisty legion on Friday and Saturday.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com