Government opens disaster relief program for Chestermere residents

Residents are still cleaning up after a massive flood in Chestermere on Sunday, as heavy rains overwhelmed the community's sewer system and caused widespread flooding.

The Alberta government is now offering support to help residents of Chestermere and Rocky View Country who were affected by severe weather back in July.

Officials say that on July 12, nearly 300 homes were damaged by severe weather, including several public parks.

As a result, the province is pledging $9M from the Disaster Recovery Program to assist residents of Chestermere and the hamlet of Langdon in recovery.

“By providing disaster relief to residents whose homes were damaged by the July flood, it’s my hope we can relieve some of the anxiety and financial stress caused by the storm. This support is one way our government is working to help the municipalities of Chestermere and Rocky View County recover and rebuild,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs Danielle Larivee in a release.

This money will be used to help cover the costs of damages that aren’t normally covered by insurance and restores properties to basic, pre-flood condition.

The funding, however, will not cover damages because of mere sewer backup.

The relief will also be available for municipalities to restore costs from emergency operations and repairing damaged infrastructure.

Residents will be able to attend temporary registration centres as early as mid-January for help to fill out their DRP applications.

The centre in Rocky View County will be open on January 14, with its counterpart in Chestermere open on January 15 and 16.

Applicants are advised to bring:

The application deadline is March 16, 2016.

More information can be found on the Government of Alberta website.