City of Prince George

Debbie Scarborough Debbie Scarborough
Flood Recovery Director

After 60 days we are seeing most of the affected home owners getting settled into their temporary long term housing. For some that means we are assisting them in renting furniture while they arrange to return to their evacuated homes to gather some personal belongings to help them adjust and settle into their home away from home. We are seeing more of the community of Prince George that have not been impacted or involved to date, mobilize. The most recent addition is the Prince George Support Team (PGST) which is a committed and dedicated group of clinicians volunteering their time to work with those feeling the effects of the ice jam and flood.

A successful recovery is dependent on the ongoing commitment and support of not only the Emergency Social Services (ESS) team but of the volunteers and volunteer organizations in Prince George that have not been affected or involved to date. If you personally or an organization that you are involved with, are wanting to become involved in the recovery efforts of this Ice Jam and Flood please contact Debbie Scarborough at 614 7843.

Now that most of the affected residents are getting settled, the focus is to schedule time with each of the affected residents in order to discuss and work on their Personal Action Plan. This individual plan will assist the affected homeowners in listing the tasks to be done in preparation of the work needed to return their homes to their pre-flood state. After the initial panic and adrenaline rush where we are in full response mode, such as moving our belongings to higher ground, moving out, to sandbagging around our properties, we are now in a bit of limbo where we can send in our Disaster Financial Assistance applications and begin the process of developing our personal plans of action regarding our damaged homes.

It is also time for the format of the Community Information Forum (CIF) to change. The purpose and objective of the CIF was to address the unmet needs that were identified and this has been done. Experts, Presenters, City managers and others have been brought in to address the questions and the concerns of the Nechako River Residents Action Coalition and Industry Group and with all the topics addressed we are now hearing it is time for the personal and more intimate settings where people can actually talk about what happened and how it impacted their lives as they move towards the repair, rebuilding and other options for their damaged homes.

This may also be the time where we take the time to sit back and reflect on the past two months. We may talk to our friends and family about the event itself yet we might experience some sudden and strong feelings of emotion which may surface in the form of incredible sadness, disbelief, uncertainty, anger and hopelessness. It is now the time to recognize the need to talk to someone who is trained about what we’ve been going through and to have our own very personal story listened to. In response to this, the City of Prince George has arranged the following options:

 

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