Abbotsford (with files from CBC) – The haunting memories of the November 2021 atmospheric river and flooding were once again at the forefront on Thursday.
This time,some good news.
Federal monies.
Federal Minister for Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair was in Abbotsford — one of the many communities hit hard by flooding in November 2021 — on Thursday to announce a $556,955,880 payment to the provincethrough the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program.
According to the Government of Canada, this brings the total amount of money given to B.C. through that program to more than $1 billion.
Former Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun was quoted after the floods that the total damage cost would be in the range of $One Billion.
During a ceremony to announce the funding, the podium was shared by current Abbotford Mayor Ross Siemens, Minister@BillBlair, MLA @Pam_Alexis_ , Chief Dalton Silver and MP@Taleeb Noormohamed for a federal announcement of a more than $500 million investment into the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement program to help BC communities.
Brad Vis, Member of Parliament for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon issued the following statement in response to the Hon. Bill Blair’s announcement on additional disaster prevention funding in Abbotsford.
“In November 2021, British Columbians were devastated by the worst flooding in generations when dikes failed and infrastructure collapsed,” said MP Vis. “This atmospheric river effectively severed all connections between British Columbia and the rest of Canada. It disrupted supply chains, washed away homes and tragically claimed five lives.”
“Today’s additional payment of $557 million under the Disaster Financial Assistance program will go a long way towards restoring our communities and ensuring our infrastructure is ready to protect against the next disaster. I will continue to work collaboratively with Minister Blair to ensure the communities in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon receive the requisite dollars to mitigate future disasters.”
