Federal Minister visits Merritt, meets with residents still displaced after November floods

MERRITT, BC — It’s been four months since the devastating floods tore through the Fraser and Nicola Valleys. Recovery work is taking place, however many residents are still unable to return home.

On Sunday (Mar. 13), Bill Blair, federal Minister of Public Safety, met with local government leaders in Merritt. He then toured damaged areas and met with residents who are still displaced from their homes.

“At the heart of all of our work is all those individual Canadians who have been impacted by this,” Blair told gathered media. “The opportunity to come and see the change that this has brought to their lives, the struggles that they’re still going through — I think it adds urgency to the work that we do collectively.”

Blair visited several areas of town and met with residents whose homes remain uninhabitable after the flood.

One of those residents is Rochelle Rupert, who bought her home a few years ago after moving from Ontario. When she was finally able to return to assess the damage, she found a nasty surprise.

“I didn’t know about the oil tank that was in the basement, obviously,” Rupert told CFJC Today. “I had a lot of friends gather, and we started tearing things apart. The smell and the residual oil that was left on the floor and on the water finally clued us in, and we found the oil tank probably in mid-December.”

Since then, Rochelle has been waiting to hear from her insurance company on what her next steps should be. Testing the soil on her property could cost up to $40,000. If major environmental work needs to be done, that cost could jump significantly.

“Soil remediation and oil contamination are pretty expensive,” she says. “We’re talking numbers like $350,000-to-$500,000. That would make my house a total loss.”

The minister says the federal government has promised $5 billion to the province as part of the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA). However, after touring the affected areas in Merritt, Minister Blair wants that money to get into the hands of those who need it.

“We need to find ways to move and facilitate the movement of that money to the communities that need it and the individuals that need it as quickly as possible,” Blair said. “There are quite appropriate and necessary processes in place, but we don’t want the process to hold us back from the right outcome. When we hear the urgency, we all have to be compelled and resolved to respond appropriately to help these people as quickly as we can.”

Many of Rochelle’s neighbours have been able to return home. Her future remains uncertain, as she awaits a decision from her insurance company and for federal Disaster Financial Assistance funding to come through.

“I’m waiting for the DFA to come and assess. I haven’t heard a word from them yet, but I know my neighbours have already settled it. And the insurance company doesn’t want to move forward without hearing from [the DFA] as well, because they want them to deal with any flood-related damage,” Rochelle explains. “I just want to go home, and I need help to do that. I need to figure it out,”