According to the province’s buyout plan announced on Wednesday, about 100 homes in High River are eligible for funding, but many of those residents don’t think they need it.
There are lots of homes that’ve been badly damaged or destroyed in High River, but since they are located outside of the floodway, they’re not eligible for a buyout.
The buyout is based on the provincial flood maps and homeowners in Beechwood Estates sit directly in the floodway, but they’ve received a lot less damage to their homes than others in the community.
Now, everyone in that community lost at least part of their basements but they’ve been back, living at home for weeks.
Many of them even stayed during the flood to pump out water, minimizing the damage.
Some say the funding could be better used elsewhere instead of relocating them to another community.
“We’re looking for flood mitigation,” Adam Vyse says. “We’re not looking to relocate. This is a substantial amount of money that they are talking about which probably, based on the numbers we’ve been given in the past, would go a long way towards some of the more expensive options that we were told, five years ago or more. It would prevent this kind of thing from happening again.”
Residents identified in the province’s proposal have until November 30 to apply for the buyout.
