Gov’t assistance won’t cover BC landslide damage
The people whose homes were destroyed by a landslide on June 13 in southern British Columbia found out on June 15 that they will receive some assistance from the provincial government to help them rebuild.
But the community’s mayor predicted the assistance won’t be nearly enough to cover what’s believed to be millions of dollars in damage.
And the homeowners themselves could well be left with the rest of the tab.
Disasters such as floods and slides are typically excluded from home insurance policies, a reality that prompted the province to announce disaster assistance to cover 80 per cent of rebuilding costs up to $300,000 for each homeowner.
“It probably doesn’t cover the cost of one of the houses – that’s going to be a pittance,” said Pat Hampson, mayor of Oliver, the closest community to the slide site.
“We’re looking at multimillions of dollars. If you have a vineyard, that could easily net you up into the high six-digit numbers. So $300,000 doesn’t really cut the mustard, does it?”
Five homes were completely destroyed in the Sunday landslide near Testalinden Creek, south of Oliver and about 400 kilometres east of Vancouver. Other structures were also damaged and productive orchards and vineyards were buried under the mud.
Remarkably, no one was injured.
The provincial government confirmed that a small dam that breached, sending a river of mud and rocks down the hillside, was licensed to a local ranch.
Hampson said figuring out who is responsible for the dam will help determine whether anyone else could be liable for damages.
The provincial Environment Ministry confirmed a local ranch holds the license for the dam, which sits on Crown land and is believed to have been built in the 1930s, and said the ranch would “be responsible for the maintenance and inspection of the dam.”
The company listed on the dam’s license couldn’t be reached for comment.
The provincial government will also review the circumstances leading up to the slide and make recommendations, the ministry of public safety announced late Tuesday.
Deputy Solicitor General David Morhart will conduct his examination in conjunction with an investigation by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. It’s expected to be completed by mid-July.
Home insurance policies typically contain exemptions for a long list of calamities, from war and terrorism to floods and landslides.
“There is usually an exclusion that reads along the lines that snow slides, earthquakes, landslides or other earth movement is excluded,” said Lindsay Olson of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. “Any sort of land movement would typically be excluded.”
Olson said insurance policies usually don’t make a distinction between slides with natural or manmade causes. As affected residents waited to learn more about whether they’ll be compensated, they were also waiting to return home.
Emergency officials have evacuated more than two dozen homes.
