The RDOS says all flood relief monies raised by local citizens after the 2010 Testalinda debris torrent have been expended.
$36,000 was raised. Initially $6,114 was distributed in vouchers/gift cards to affected residents prior to government settlements or aid.
The remainder of $29,886 was distributed 2 years later in the form of 12 cheques of equal amount to claimants affected by the incident according to the Regional District.
Some concern has been expressed that those who donated the monies or helped raise them were not recognized sufficiently.
Background
Castanet story June 18 2010
Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Area C Director Allan Patton says a fund has been established for those directly affected by the slide.
“We have fixed up a bank account so that people who want to donate money have a place to do it. We will hand out tax receipts so their charitable donations are tax deductible,” says Patton.
The fund has been set up at the CIBC in Oliver on 97th Street.
CBC story June 13 2012
Two years after a dam breach caused a mudslide that destroyed several homes south of Oliver property owners have received compensation for their losses.
Five homes were destroyed, as well as several vineyards and orchards, when the dam on Testalinda reservoir failed, causing a slide that pulled down heavy mud, trees and boulders.
“It was big, horrible. It sounded like a plane. We didn’t know what was happening, we just had to run because we didn’t know how big it was or what it was. We didn’t know what it was, or why,” said homeowner Hardeep Khela.
The impact knocked houses from their foundations and covered farmland in cement-like mud, leaving some homeless.
Testalinda is an historic area, school, creek, and a dam south of the Okanagan town of Oliver (On some provincial maps the area name is replaced with the misnomer Testalinden). The dam at Testalinden Lake burst June 13, 2010 at approximately 2:15 pm creating a debris torrent landslide that descended about a mile to the valley below destroying at least 5 homes and farms.