Over the past 2 weeks, we have collected nearly 200 responses to our Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) Status Survey.  We appreciate the time respondents took to complete the survey, as the information we gather is very useful when communicating with government officials about the administration of the DRP.

 

Unfortunately, the results indicate that many of you continue to struggle with a frustrating process to obtain DRP funding, and in most instances, the amount received is substantially dwarfed by the actual losses you incurred.  A summary of the key findings from the DRP Status Survey are below.

 

Respondents to the survey were impacted by flooding on multiple rivers:

 

River	% of Respondents
Bow	13
Elbow	61
Highwood	23
Other (e.g., Kananaskis, Exshaw and Jura Creeks)	3

 

 

Repairs not yet commenced:

• More than 25% of respondents have not commenced repairing or rebuilding their homes, and in many instances it is because the homeowners have not received sufficient DRP funding.

 

Significant damage incurred:

• Nearly 60% of respondents experienced damage to not only their basements, but their main floors and in some instances their second floor.
• The majority of respondents estimate their repair/rebuild cost (not including contents) to be in the range of $50,000 to $300,000.
• The majority of respondents estimate their loss of contents to be in the range of $30,000 to $150,000.

 

Relatively small DRP payouts:

• By contrast to the significant damages incurred, of those respondents that have received a final payment from the DRP, the majority received less than $60,000, with 40% having received less than $20,000.
• On a square footage basis, most respondents received less than $20/square foot.
• Most preliminary DRP payments were less than $5000.
• Over 75% of respondents deemed their DRP funding to be completely inadequate.

 

Lack of Transparency:

• A continuing frustration for those dealing with the DRP is the lack of transparency.  More than 75% of the respondents did not receive an explanation (concurrent with their payment) of how the DRP funds they received were calculated.
• More than 85% of respondents do not understand how the DRP funds were determined in their case.

 

New DRP Model is needed:

• Nearly 90% of respondents agree that a caseworker model, where one person is assigned a number of files for start to finish management would be an improvement.

 

CRCAG Surveys are not scientific surveys, nor are they intended to be.  Results are provided for information purposes only, and should not be relied on for any reason.  No representations or warranties are made with respect to the accuracy of information collected or summarized herein.