Kinew vows financial aid on way for flood victims
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WINNIPEG — Premier Wab Kinew announced Tuesday the province is changing rules to give disaster financial assistance to victims of last week’s flash floods in rural Manitoba.
Kinew encouraged applicants to ignore the standard terms on the government’s website and forms that state insurable damages are not eligible for provincial aid.
“If you have somebody who’s lived in a community for eight or nine decades and they’ve never seen this kind of flooding, it’s reasonable to expect that folks in that area wouldn’t put up flood protection or they wouldn’t purchase overland flood insurance,” he told reporters at an event in Selkirk.
“Because of that reality of a changing climate bringing forward impacts we’ve never seen in certain parts of the province before, that’s why we’re looking at ensuring this DFA program is going to be there for people so that no one in rural Manitoba gets left behind, and we’re not going to let the rules, as posted on the website, stand in the way of doing the right thing.”
The Manitoba Emergency Management Organization has so far received more than 300 applications from homeowners and businesses affected by heavy rain from June 6 to 10, a provincial spokesperson said.
Details about individual coverage amounts, timelines of payouts and the total cost of the program are still to be ironed out. So are exact details for people who could have purchased an insurance product but did not, Kinew said.
Flood victims should contact their insurance provider before applying for financial assistance, he said.
Several municipalities declared states of local emergency after torrential rain led to widespread flooding last week. Winnipeg was not among them, meaning residents affected by the downpours may not qualify for provincial help.
“My understanding right now is that the state of emergency has to be declared in the municipality,” Kinew said.
Kinew said Tuesday his government is working with EMO on how to “codify” the new approach.
The website and application forms contained “boilerplate language” when the program launched, he added.
“I want to reassure people this is going to look different than how it has in the past,” he said.
Kinew stressed the government’s policy and emergency response has to evolve with climate change.
» Winnipeg Free Press