Significant rainfall plummeted the local area last week. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Once in 100 years rainfall

City asking for area to be considered for disaster assistance

Jun 22, 2022 | 4:07 PM

UPDATE: The City of North Battleford is advising residents its application to the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) for the June 13 heavy rainfall event has been approved. Residents are responsible for completing their PDAP application and submitting their claim to the province. They are asked to contact their private insurance provider for coverage for damages before applying through PDAP. More details are available on the City of North Battleford’s website.

North Battleford property owners dealing with high costs from damages after last week’s heavy rain storm may see some help.

The City of North Battleford plans to apply to the province for the area to be considered for the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP), for relief following the June 13 flooding that impacted the community.

At a special meeting on Wednesday, council gave the okay for administration to proceed with the request.

City Manager Randy Patrick said the city experienced a one in a 100-year rainstorm over a six-hour period at the time of the incident. The rain gauge at City Hall showed the city received 10.0 cm of rain, while the Fairview Heights Reservoir recorded receiving 8.56 cm.

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Patrick said the city had a number of inquiries from the public who incurred damages to their properties.

“After our rainfall we received, depending on where you were in the city, there was at least four inches of rain in a fairly short period of time,” he said. “We did have some localized flooding in a number of places with the water that went across boundaries, properties and gutted the basements.”

PDAP provides assistance for uninsurable losses of essential goods to help people recover from pre-disaster conditions.

If the city area is eligible, before property owners can apply to the program they must have first applied through their personal insurance providers.

“One of the things we want to make sure is that people have kept receipts, have kept pictures. They haven’t finished the work but they know what it costs, and they have talked to their insurance company,” Patrick said. “We will have available at the city or online with the provincial government, applications and forms which you can apply for immediately if you wish. But nothing happens until the province says that they are accepting it as a disaster relief program.”

Council agreed with administration’s resolution to apply to the province to be designated an eligible assistance area under the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program for the June 13 rainfall event.

Patrick said the city will not be applying for any assistance for its own properties as “the damage wasn’t high enough.”

He said asking the province for the area to be considered under PDAP to assist residents is a starting point.

“It’s not guaranteed, but it is a request,” Patrick said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW