The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) has been approved for Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) for Fairmont Hot Springs following the recent landslide that destroyed bridges and affected a large amount of personal property.

“We made that application right away realizing the magnitude of [the landslide],” RDEK communications manager Loree Duczek said.

Homeowners will now be able to fill out and submit claim forms to potentially recover a portion of the damage and clean up costs that are not covered by insurance. This is a provincial program completely separate from the RDEK, and there are several key components to a successful application.

First, applicants are urged to include plenty of photographic evidence, particularly photos from before and after the damage. Some homes also received damage assessments from RDEK building inspectors, and anyone with a damage assessment completed can also include it with their claim. Other materials to include are all receipts related to clean-up costs, and a claim denial to determine whether or not their insurance company will cover the damages.

“The key thing for people will be to put the right dates (July 15 to 16 2012), as DFA is only approved for specific events,” Duczek said.

The deadline for applications is November 8, 2012. Once the claim is submitted, the homeowner will be working directly with the province and any questions should be directed to the Emergency Management B.C. (EMBC) office at 1-888-257-4777.

Applications can be found on the EMBC website at www.pep.bc.ca/dfa_claims/dfa.html, and in hard copy at the RDEK Columbia Valley office. DFA guidelines can also be found on their website.