Hundreds of residents in Merritt, B.C., still out of their homes 3 months after devastating floods

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When Donna Rae moved to Merritt, B.C., from Vancouver, she bought a smallretirement home where she figured she'd spend the rest of her life.

But late last year, that home became filled with mud, water and debris from the Coldwater River one of many destroyed during devastating floods in November.

Now Rae, 70, says she wishes she'd never moved to the city in B.C.'s southern Interior.

"Now I'm wishing I'd stayed at the coast, so I don't have to deal with this," she said.

In the 3 months following the floods, Rae, who is currently staying with friends about 20 minutes outside of Merritt, hasbeen working with contractors to bucket mud out ofher home's crawl space, tear the building down to the studsand start the rebuilding process.

"It's exhausting. I feel like I have been constantly tired," said Rae, who estimates the total costof repairwill be around $70,000.

Being retired, she says, allowed her the time to find contractors, navigate re-mortgaging and access funding after her insurance rejected her application.

"It's become my full-time job," she said.

Others have not been so lucky.

'I'll be surprised if they can save it'

Kati Spencerbought her home across the street from Rae inJuly 2021.

"The basement was full when we evacuated," said Spencer, who has stayed in a number of hotels since losing her home.

She had hoped to start repairs right awaybut the citylimited access to her neighbourhooduntil early December because of safety concerns.

By then, a deep freeze had caused further damage, causingthe separating wall and ceilingto droop.

Spencerstill hasn't been able to hire contractors to start repairs and she's pessimistic about her home's future.

"I'll be surprised if they can save it," she said.

WATCH | Merritt was inundated with floodwater in November 2021:

Flooding forces evacuation of Merritt., B.C.

3 years ago

Duration 1:51

After torrential rain, flood waters inundated Merritt, B.C., and forced the entire city to be evacuated. The water treatment plant has stopped working and at least 1,000 homes have been flooded.

'Really disheartening'

The City of Merritt says around 600 of its residents are still unableto return home. In the meantime, they are staying in temporary spaces like hotels or with friends and family.

The city has been working with the province to find funding for replacement housing options like trailers or 3-D printed houses, but has so far been unsuccessful. Now, the city is hoping donations from the public through fundraisers like Hell or High Water will help fill that gap.

"To see all these people homeless withoutfunding in place ...is really disheartening," said Greg Solecki, recovery manager withthe city.

Across the province, the Red Cross has provided supportfor more than 7,500 households,including money for repairs and access to interim housing at hotels,following November's floods.

Concerns over future flooding

For others living along the Coldwater River, the flooding has alsoled to worries about the future,with the waterway changing course and puttingmore homes at risk.

In Merritt's Collettville neighbourhood, whichoverlooksclay banks that now run directly alongside the river, resident Kate Harrison has started a petition asking the city to reinforce thosebanks to try to prevent future washouts.

"It was something that we thought, 'Well, this might affect our property down the road 20 years from now,'" she said.

"Now I'm thinking, 'Come spring, this is going to affect the property.'"

City council said it haspassed a unanimous motion to get staff to look into stabilizing the banks, but no plans have been decided on yet.

The city is encouragingaffected residents to apply for disaster financial assistance funding from the province. The deadline to apply isMarch3, withresidents able to claim up to 80 per cent of the costs of eligible flood damage up to$300,000.

Spencer says these supports aren't enough, and she'snot sure if she'll ever be able to return home.

"I keep being told to be grateful for everything everyone is doing for me, but I feel like I'm on my own," she said.

"They just get worse and worse things don't get better here."