There is relief in sight for many people living in Calgary, Medicine Hat, High River, Black Diamond, Turner Valley and Bragg Creek with the Alberta government announcing home buyouts for 250 homes. The government will present an offer to purchase and to also tear down these homes. This means that homeowners that are presented with the offer will be eligible to be compensated for the property's total value as seen on their last assessment for taxes.This gives people living in homes in floodways the chance to relocate to higher ground. Once these homes are torn down, no one will ever be able to rebuild on that land again.Here is a general breakdown of the compensation numbers according to region:
High River - 102
Medicine Hat - 57
Calgary - 50
Bragg Creek - 36
Black Diamond - 9
Turner Valley - 9
It's going to cost the province $175 million if every homeowner agrees to the offer presented. For those that choose to turn down the proposal for compensation, they will still be qualified to get their property repaired with funds offered from the Disaster Recovery Program. If another flood should happen though, they won't be further eligible for future compensation.There are a lot of residents that aren't happy with this proposal and don't feel that the government is handling it properly. The buyouts have been based on maps of the flood zone and there is question about their accuracy.Homes that didn't see a lot of damage will qualify technically for the buyout while other properties that were damaged beyond repair won't be presented with the offer, and this new strain of events adds a lot of confusion and frustration to an already charged situation.