Help For Northerners Caught In Snow

Saturday, November 18, 2006 04:00 AM

The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, John Les, says funds were made available to the residents of the central and northern part of the province who were forced out of their homes and into temporary shelter as result of the heavy snowfall October 27th that saw up to 3 feet of snow dumped on some regions west of Prince George.

Some residents in the Takla, Ft St. James, Fraser Lake, Smithers and Telkwa areas were left without power for more than a week.

In an interview with Opinion250 John Les said that the some of the areas were declared as a local emergency which meant that they would receive funds for motel stays and other expenses as a result of being forced from their homes because of the weather. Les said that he watched the events unfold at the time and was kept abreast of what was going on. Expenses for the people that were displaced will be covered.

Two hospitals in the region, Smithers and Burns Lake were impacted by that storm, as was the airport in Smithers.

Les said that the latest disaster on Vancouver Island and the lower Mainland will mean that people, who were not covered by insurance, will become eligible for possible compensation under the Disaster Financial Assistance Program.

As a result of that storm, "A lot of roads were washed out, culverts and basements flooded from sewer back ups" says Les, so those residents may qualify for assistance under the program if they did not qualify for insurance.

It is not known how many people applied for, or have received assistance, as a result of the week long power outages and subsequent problems brought on by the late October snowstorm that buried many communities along Highway 16 from Vanderhoof west.

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Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Gofaster on November 18 2006 7:39 AM

I beleive that what this really measn, is tha, yes we in the north can apply, might even get some help, but probably not.
Afer all we are beyond hope.
And as for the lower mainland... your will get what you want so the city can look pretty for 2010
MY OPINION.....

Posted by: Jethro on November 18 2006 11:22 AM

'Afer all we are beyond hope.'

Then use your free will and move to the Lower Mainland but for God's sake, stop complaining.

Posted by: jonnypg on November 18 2006 11:27 AM

Was he complaining!just telling you like it is!.

Posted by: Jethro on November 18 2006 11:53 AM

News item reads: Governments (taxpayers) assist northern residents with weather-related expenses beyond their control.

News item continues: Governments (taxpayers) assist southern residents with much larger weather-related expenses beyond their control, and beyond the limits of their private insurance policies.

Astute post to Complain250 reads: We're all so hard done by in northern BC and the Lower Mainland is sucking up all government (taxpayer) funding and nobody cares about us and boo-hoo-hoo but we can TRY make it better but it won't do any good because nobody likes us and boo-hoo-hoo and they're so rich and powerful and everybody ignores us and I'm the first person in the Province to think up the term 'Beyond Hope' (and oh yeah I invented 'the Smell of Money' one too) and we're such losers and nobody cares about us and maybe we should have a rally or something or maybe write a letter to the Free Press and boo-hoo-hoo and everybody hates us and our downtown is ugly too.

Posted by: Chadermando on November 18 2006 12:13 PM

Jethro, I sense that you are kind of negative....

Posted by: Jethro on November 18 2006 12:29 PM

Not at all Chaddie.

Just really, really tired of complainers in this town.

Especially those that complain about not getting enough government (taxpayer) dough heading their way.

Posted by: jonnypg on November 18 2006 1:12 PM

No! it's heading south

Posted by: dow7500 on November 18 2006 1:30 PM

well said Jethro, The northern BC inferiority complex that reeks from this site will keep us as have nots in perpituity. No help in the big storm, no benifit from the olpmpics, blah, blah blah... If government could create strong economies on their own, the Maritimes would be an economic powerhouse. Pleading for government help for all our problems demeans the spirit and charachter of MOST Northerners. Lets suck it up and show the pampered south how its done.

Posted by: trusted on November 18 2006 2:27 PM

Now the taxpayers are responsible for people who suffer any hardship from a heavy snowfall, rain, or when the wind blows. All of a sudden it is a state of emergency.
One would think they would want to remain in their homes and attempt to keep them from freezing up? Or perhaps remove some of that snow from a roof? I realize a nice warm motel room with cable T V will become very appealing-if the government will pick up the tabs for maintenance and repairs, and of course-a certain amount of discomfort.
Just when does the taxpayer get off the hook?
The government has never done a damn thing for me when I had problems.
Must have been around too long-or knew too little.
Cry me a river-but get off your butts and take care of yourselves.
Helping support "crybabies" holds no appeal for me.
Furthermore-I do not care where you live-north, south, east, or west. Pay your own way.