By Steve Hubrecht
[email protected]

Local residents and business owners whose property was damaged during the intense and sustained hail storm that hammered Invermere earlier this summer will not be getting disaster assistance funding from the provincial government.

The hailstorm thundered down on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 2 and came seemingly out of nowhere, as it followed nearly a week straight of 40 degrees Celsius temperatures. The freak climatic event battered Invermere mercilessly with hailstones the size of large cherry tomatoes, pounding down furiously for roughly 20 minutes straight. The damage was confined almost exclusively to Invermere, with other parts of the Columbia Valley left unscathed, but the destruction was considerable indeed. The much-larger than normal hailstones and the much-longer than normal duration of the storm brought down branches and trees, ruined roofs, dented vehicles, caused localized flooding and erosion (including creating a temporary river running down 7th Avenue, Invermere’s main street), and left swaths of the district under a blanket of white precipitation that seemed more like snow than hail and that stuck around for more than 24 hours in some spots.

In the wake of the event, the district of Invermere asked local residents to submit damage reports detailing what happened at their properties during the storm, and then used these reports to apply to the provincial government for emergency relief funding on behalf of the community.

All applications, made through Emergency Management B.C. (EMBC)’s disaster financial assistance (DFA) program, have been turned down.

“Certainly we were disappointed. There were people that lost quite a lot that day and had quite considerable damages to repair. The cost of fixing the damage is high for many,” Invermere mayor Al Miller told the Pioneer. “I thought we would qualify for the funding. It didn’t turn out that way. The storm may not have been province wide, but our community suffered that day.”

The district followed up multiple times with EMBC, asking them to reconsider, but the organization stood firm in turning down the applications.

“One of the issues is that a number of the property owners have insurance, so the response from EMBC is that your first step should be the insurance firm you are dealing with. Unfortunately many make choices about their insurance, and certainly because of our climate they’re not thinking that they’re going to be subject to a flood. More likely a wildfire. And they choose their premiums accordingly,” Invermere chief administrative officer Andrew Young told the Pioneer. “In this instance, a number of property owners didn’t have flood insurance.”

Young added that another issue EMBC cited in its decision was that the bulk of the damages appear to be related to hail damage to roofs and siding, outbuildings (such as greenhouses, sheds), landscaping (including driveways) and insurable damages to commercial buildings which are not eligible through DFA.

In all, roughly 35 residents sent in reports of damage, along with a great many photos and videos depicting the damage. At one residential home, the storm caused more than $10,000 worth of damage, and one local business sustained more than $50,000 worth of damage. Young noted it was a small start-up business (privacy concern prevented him from naming it), and given that, “that amount is an awful lot to recover from.”

“It’s so frustrating all around, and frustrating for us at the district. We had been alerted by our colleagues at the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) that it would be challenging to prove and sustain the claim, but we were hopeful. In spite of all the photos and video evidence, the application was turned down,” said Young. “We were disappointed…There are people here who really got clobbered (by the storm). We turned over every stone with EMBC that we could and went through several follow ups, but no go.”

Young added that the reports submitted by residents likely do not reflect the total damage from the hailstorm in Invermere.
“This is just what was reported to us. Other people may very well have had damage, but felt they could handle it on their own, or deal with insurance,” he said.

Those who filed damage reports and wish to pursue this matter further themselves with the provincial government can reach out to the district, which will provide the necessary contact information.