The federal government vowed to speed up job insurance applications and ease travel restrictions at British Columbia’s borders on Sunday, among a series of measures aimed at helping residents of the flood-ravaged province recover from storms. recent events and deal with the new ones that are expected in the coming days.
Ottawa’s show of support came as Environment Canada doubled down on its warnings about wetter weather that would hit a province that already saw record rainfall last week, triggering landslides that have killed four people to date and paralyzed much of it. part of the economy and economy of British Columbia. agricultural activity.
At a press conference with several of her cabinet colleagues, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said that British Columbia residents displaced or unemployed due to extreme flooding should immediately apply for employment insurance benefits, even if they would not normally be eligible.
She said the federal government would waive the requirement for applicants to show an employment record, recognizing that it can be difficult for many to obtain proper documentation under the current circumstances.
“Obviously it could be very difficult in these times to get that … particular document,” he said. “We are seeing the reality of the benefits of the pandemic and the people who have exhausted their EI have affected their availability of ongoing EI supports.”
Qualtrough said people should run anyway, adding that the federal government will “figure this out” for them one way or another and Ottawa will be there to support British Columbia people through this crisis.
Defense Minister Anita Anand, who also spoke at Sunday’s press conference, said that 500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces are already on the ground or en route to British Columbia and thousands more are ready to depart if necessary.
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About three dozen military members are assisting with sandbagging efforts in a First Nations community near Hope, BC, he said.
Meanwhile, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said residents of British Columbia communities on or near the US border will be able to travel south to purchase fuel or other necessary items without undergoing a COVID test. -19 to go home.
He said someone at Delta, for example, could cross into Washington state at Point Roberts, refuel, and then return to Canada without needing a PCR test to enter the country.
The feds waive normal #EI rules for British Columbia residents who were left without work by extreme flooding. #Floods #BC #CDNPoli
Support from the federal government comes as another weather system known as the atmospheric river moves south, bringing more rainfall to areas that have already been beset by last week’s floods and landslides.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the northern coast of British Columbia, warning of potential flooding and landslides due to heavy rains.
The region is being hit by a system that is expected to bring 100 to 150 millimeters of rain to the Prince Rupert area and 30 to 60 millimeters to Haida Gwaii on Monday.
The storm is then expected to head south towards parts of the province, such as Abbotsford, which are still dealing with washed out roads and widespread flood-related damage following torrential rains last weekend.
“The additional rain will definitely lead to more puddles on the roads and that will be followed only by a short break until Wednesday when another system approaches,” Derek Lee, a meteorologist for Environment Canada, said in an interview.
Lee said Monday’s expected rain is not much different from a normal winter storm, while Wednesday’s weather system is scheduled to bring a “significant” amount of rain to parts of southern British Columbia.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun told a news conference Sunday that the damage to his community could have been worse if a key pumping station in the city had failed.
“I have a new appreciation of how close we came to this disaster being much, much worse. We came very close to losing this absolutely critical piece of infrastructure,” he said.
The gates at Barrowtown Station had previously been kept closed due to excessive water levels, preventing water from the Sumas River from draining into the nearby Fraser River and instead forcing it onto city land.
That gate, Braun said, has now been fully reopened, allowing seven times more water to flow into the Fraser than the pump station could have cleaned on its own.
The neighboring city of Chilliwack lifted evacuation alerts for the Yarrow and Majuba Hill communities, except for nine properties.
Highway 7 has also been fully reopened to traffic in both directions, while the Fraser Valley Regional District warns of an increase in logs and debris in the lower Fraser River, downstream from Agassiz.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 21, 2021.
– With files from Joan Bryden in Ottawa
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com