Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is now available to eligible British Columbians in the Peace River Regional District area, including Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St John, Hudson’s Hope, Pouce Coupe, Taylor, Tumbler Ridge and the First Nations communities of Saulteau and West Moberly who may have been impacted from the major flooding that occurred this past week.

To make the regional portion of Emergency Management BC’s $1.2-million earthquake exercise – taking place in Port Alberni from June 7-10, 2016 – as real as possible, the Province is relying on the time and donations of many businesses and volunteers to help deliver Exercise Coastal Response (https://news.gov.bc.ca/stories/exercise-coastal-response-2016), B.C.’s first ever, full-scale earthquake and tsunami response exercise throughout the entire provincial landscape.

Emergency Management BC launched an alert from the Provincial Emergency Notification System this morning as part of Exercise Coastal Response (https://news.gov.bc.ca/stories/exercise-coastal-response-2016), the Province’s first full-scale earthquake exercise undertaken in B.C. The notification occurred shortly after the 7:45 a.m. commencement of the exercise.

As emergency officials from neighbouring Alberta prepare to remove the evacuation order and permit families to return to Fort McMurray, B.C. is lending a hand, including deployment of mental health workers to support those facing the uncertain realities of returning home to their evacuated town.

To better understand and mitigate the impacts of flooding along the Fraser River and southern coast as identified in Phase One of the Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy, the Province of British Columbia is working collaboratively with all partners in the strategy and with the Fraser Basin Council by committing $1 million in funding to assist with implementation of Phase Two.