B.C. mudslide victims eligible for $300K

The B.C. government has approved financial aid for property owners hit by Sunday's mudslide in the South Okanagan, meaning homeowners are each eligible for up to $300,000 compensation.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike de Jong visited the devastated farming community Tuesday, where five homes and several farm buildings were destroyed and several others were damaged when a massive mudslide swept through on Sunday.

Officials have blamed the slide on the failure of an irrigation reservoir in the mountains above the farming community.

"It's very sad," de Jong said after the tour. "Some people have lived here for 20 or 30 years and in 20 minutes they see it all destroyed like this."

De Jong said provincial officials will meet with the affected residents immediately to brief them on the application process for provincial assistance.

The emergency services program provides up to 80 per cent compensation to eligible homeowners, residential tenants, farmers, small businesses and charitable organizations when property is damaged by uninsurable disasters, including certain floods and mudslides.

Some of those affected by the mudslide would likely be able to make separate claims for both their private homes and their businesses, meaning they would be eligible for more than $300,000 in compensation, said De Jong.

De Jong said the investigation into the slide is underway.

"What happened, how did it happen, why did it happen and could it have been prevented? These are the questions we are looking into and want answers to."

Hundreds of reservoirs could pose risks

Meanwhile, a UBC professor from the school's Okanagan campus who toured the site of Sunday's mudslide says the slide should be taken as a warning of other hidden dangers in the hills.

Geo-technical engineer Dwayne Tannant said the slide illustrates how a relatively small amount of water from a man-made reservoir can cause massive destruction.

He suggested work needs to be done to prevent similar disasters from occurring elsewhere in the Okanagan.

"Given that we've got literally hundreds of these small reservoirs scattered in the high country around the Okanagan Valley, it's probably prudent to do a little bit of hazard assessment of these watersheds," he said.

Officials say the reservoir was built in the 1930s but failed after heavy rains in recent weeks breached its embankments.