Cache Creek residents whose properties were damaged by flooding have until August 14 to apply for Disaster Financial Assistance funding from the B.C. Government.

Emergency Operations Centre Information Officer Wendy Coomber says the program will pay 80 per cent of costs that it deems eligible, up to a maximum of $400,000.

“That is a discussion that they are going to need to have with the disaster financial people and we can give them contacts for that,” she said, when asked what is and isn’t eligible for funding. “There are very specific rules, but they can help guide you though the process.”

“We’re also having a resiliency and recovery open house on May 31st at the Community Hall where we hope to have disaster financial assistance representatives and other agencies who can help answer those questions.”

Her comments come as the majority of evacuation orders in Cache Creek have been lifted. She also told RadioNL that three properties were damaged by flooding this spring and that there was a lot of cleanup work that had to be done.

A state of local emergency in Cache Creek, put in place on April 30, has been extended once again to May 27.

“Our community is very different than it was this time last month. Almost everything that the Village offers residents has taken a beating,” Cache Creek EOC Director, Damian Couture, said, noting the Village also plans to bring in a Recovery Manager, which will be funded by the Province.

Coomber also told RadioNL that the village is eligible for provincial disaster assistance funding to rebuild any of its infrastructure that was damaged by flooding. The list of damaged infrastructure includes the Fire Hall, Quartz Road, the Todd Road Bridge, broken water mains, sewage plant issues, two flooded parks, and broken irrigation systems.

She says while expenses incurred during the response phase of the flooding are covered by the province, the village is only eligible for 80 to 90 per cent of the costs it takes to rebuild infrastructure that was damaged.

“We’re on the hook for the remaining amounts,” Coomber added. “A lot of these repairs cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and they quickly add up. The village of Cache Creek doesn’t collect a whole in any given year from property taxes so they depend on grants and other income to pay for things like this.”

People can contact the Disaster Financial Assistance team with their questions by email here or toll-free by phone at 1-888-257-4777.

For the latest on flooding information in Cache Creek, go here or to the Village of Cache Creek Facebook page here.