Debris left behind after the flash flood in Cache Creek, May 23.
Image Credit: South Cariboo Search and Rescue
June 25, 2015 - 11:30 AM
CONCERT FUNDRAISER PLANNED
CACHE CREEK – The residents of Cache Creek continue to clean up following a flash flood that ripped through the small town last month.
Coun. Wyatt McMurray says it's been a difficult month. On May 23 a flash flood devastated his town, leaving some residents homeless.
While national attention has subsided, there is still much to do. Many homeowners are finding their insurance doesn’t cover what they thought and that disaster relief is far from satisfactory.
McMurray has helped organize a concert event spanning two days, July 3 to 4, called CacheAid. The event features a dinner, silent auction and five cover bands. All proceeds of the concert will go to the victims in town who need it the most.
“The people who (administer relief) are very compassionate, but have legislation they have to follow,” McMurray says in explaining the gaps in the system.
He says funding falls short on a few different fronts and people may never recover all that was lost. Those who didn’t submit their homeowner grants on time will not qualify for assistance. Also, the relief does not cover yards, regardless of the damage. McMurray says many people have lost significant value to their overall properties.
The councillor says one couple was in the process of selling their home when the storm hit. Ready to take possession of their new home June 1, it suffered significant damage during the storm. However, since this was not considered their ‘principal residence,’ at least not for another week, the couple won’t receive anything.
Even those who do receive funding often don’t recoup what their homes were actually worth. The disaster relief funding provides for necessity only, dictating the size of a home depending on the number of occupants. A single couple with a large home will only be compensated for roughly a one bedroom apartment.
“I’ve said before it’s like getting 80 per cent of 50 per cent,” McMurray says of the funding struggles.
The first priority was getting people back to their homes, which has been accomplished for the most part. McMurray believes there are still a handful of individuals who are on emergency assistance until the end of the month. On a positive note, the councillor says ‘clean-up is substantially down the road’ with all the major projects completed. What is left is what remains in people’s yards and the town’s park, which is ‘really in rough shape.’
What the councillor hopes for CacheAid is, not only to raise the funds needed, to get the community out, to relax and have some fun. The last week of May was unforgiving but he thinks showed what his community was made of.
“The community is much stronger today than it was May 22,” McMurray says.
McMurray says it has been really amazing to see people helping people and the level of camaraderie in town, especially in the face of such devastating events.
Tickets for CacheAid are $75 each and available at many Cache Creek businesses.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015