Help might be on the way very soon for the City of Humboldt and it’s residents after two major storms tore through the area over the past month, one of which caused a State of Emergency.
Council voted unanimously at a Special Council Meeting on Monday in favour of sending in their application for some relief from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP).
The most recent storm hit Humboldt on Tuesday, June 30 as it caused widespread flooding through the city. In the past, PDAP has been used to help cover uninsurable damage after major events.
“We didn’t really have any damage to any city properties,” Mayor Rob Muench told northeastNOW. “So, it would be mainly for the residents. There has been some overland flooding in different areas of the city.”
That’s all based on approval by the province, but the city has been in contact with government as well as their local MLA. If approved, residents or those who would like some assistance from the program would have to apply individually.
Muench said the city has had flooding issues like this in the past, but not this bad.
“I’ve lived in my house for 33 years,” he said. “And I’ve never seen it this bad.”
As for what’s next for the city, Muench said they are trying to mitigate the flooding issues in Humboldt.
“We’ve done a number of projects that were supposed to help out, and I thought that we were on the right track,” he said. “But obviously with this storm it proves that we still have work to do.”
Muench said he and Council hope to hear back from the government very soon on their status with PDAP.
– By northeastNOW’s Mat Barrett