‘I cannot even fathom the thought of not getting help’: B.C. flood victim still waiting for support

Katrina Page watched her Hope home of seven years float away last November during catastrophic flooding, but all this time later, she says her family is still waiting for help.

“That was our final place there, we had a well established orchard on the property, a freezer full of food, we were set up for retirement,” she said.

The home was appraised at $850,000 and mortgage free, according to Page.

Now forced to live on a neighbour’s driveway cooped up in a travel trailer with her husband, three dogs, and a cat, her family continues to wait for support to kick in. Page says she has received less than $4,000 in relief since the disaster took place, with the majority of that money coming from out-of-province relief efforts immediately after the floods.

“That’s kind of what were doing now, just living in limbo waiting to see what’s going to go on here. I don’t know if we are going to get government help or not. It’s been six months now and we haven’t heard anything.”

She adds the home didn’t qualify for insurance because it was built on a flood plain.

B.C.’s disaster financial aid (DFA) program — which can provide a maximum of $300,000 to any businesses or individuals affected by the floods — has been in contact with Page. She claims the province talked about providing a “small cheque.”

“To date, we have received more than 2,200 applications for DFA from individuals, small businesses, farms, charitable organizations, and local governments impacted by the November 2021 flooding,” the province said in a statement to CityNews.

“Our government is committed to supporting the individuals and communities. We know that people applying for Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) need this money as soon as possible,” it added.

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“They are not making it easy to get help at all, like it’s just incredible … they keep talking about all this money that they get funded, well where’s it going? I don’t know,” Page said, audibly frustrated.

Meanwhile, she says the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) told her it was looking into buyout options for individuals who lost everything. However, she’s still waiting on an update.

The FVRD told CityNews it cannot provide a comment at this time.

Page says she has also reached out to Hope’s MLA for support.

“My MLA just contacted me, she reached out to the government and they said ‘…they are not helping anybody at this time,’ whatever that means. So, I guess even if they do decide to kick in, it’ll be months or even years away,” she explained.

Page says she’s also heard from other people who are going through the same thing.

“The next door neighbour lost his two acres, he’s still paying a mortgage on his property and there’s not even property there. So, I know he’s in the same boat as us: homeless. We’re definitely not alone.”

Page’s daughter helped set up a GoFundMe in early December, pleading for support.

The donation goal is $25,000.