Alberta Premier Alison Redford was in Exshaw on Wednesday to touch base with leaders and members of the community and check on the progress of flood recovery efforts.
Exshaw was completely cut off for four days following the floods at the end of June and now nine weeks later there is still a lot of work to be done.
“It does seems a bit odd to talk about progress but there has certainly been some good progress made in terms of people being able to get back to their homes and to be able to rebuild but there’s also a number of people that are still out of their homes and there is some very unique circumstances in this community and as we move forward we want to be able to rebuild,” said Redford.
Redford says she is talking with leaders in the area to make sure that they are making the right decisions and the right investments now so the community can thrive in the future.
“We know that we can get through this. And I want people to know that I wake up every morning thinking about this and how we can do it better and how we can do it faster,” said the premier. “Some of the decisions we need to make, on a more community level, are decisions that will take some time because we want to get it right and we want to make sure that we use this terrible circumstances as an opportunity to build better.”
Most have applied for government funding and many are still waiting for compensation.
Sue Arlidge says the entire process has been tiring and emotional and that she has sent in all the proper paperwork.
So far her family has not seen a penny from the province and she says she is feeling like she’s been left in the dark.
“It seems like the government has the cards stacked against not spending a lot of money on getting back into adequate housing,” said Arlidge.
Redford says the province has hired 200 DRP reps to work through the files with those affected by the floods.
“This was a disaster like none we’ve had in Alberta and there are families that are displaced and there are families that are still displaced but through temporary housing, thorough the DRP, giving people options in order to allow them to make the choices, is what we really need to do right now,” said Redford.
Redford says she understands the frustration many are feeling about the process and is asking flood victims to ensure that DRP reps have accurate and current information so they can move things a long as quickly as possible.
