Steinbach denied disaster financial assistance

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This article was published 03/03/2025 (388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Steinbach will not receive disaster financial assistance from the province in the wake of Sept. 16 and 18 storms that moved through the region.

Council accepted the letter dated Jan. 27 from the province at their Feb. 18 meeting.

The letter stated that DFA programs will only be established when three criteria are met.

Damages from the event must be widespread and affect a larger area or number of residents, they must be mostly uninsurable and must present a significant financial burden.

“The Manitoba government has concluded that impacts experienced in the City of Steinbach from the rain event on Sept. 16 and 18, 2024 do not meet the criteria for the establishment of a DFA program,” the letter signed by Erin Robbins, director of recovery and mitigation stated. “While we sympathise with the effected communities, no assistance will be made available.”

Coun. Jac Siemens asked administration for clarification.

“It seems that we met all the criteria that they’ve listed here in the letter, but we were still denied,” he said. “Does that mean homeowners were denied as well?”

City manager Troy Warkentin explained that the city had to apply for assistance simply to allow homeowners to do the same.

He said the amount the damage cost the city was significantly below the threshold that DFA would activate.

It’s estimated that about $22,000 in damage to city property was done by the sudden rainfall.