B.C. mayors dumbfounded after Ottawa rejects bid for flood prevention cash [Video]

A trio of municipalities devastated by British Columbia’s 2021 floods are blasting the federal government over access to prevention funds.

The mayors of Abbotsford, Merritt and Princeton held a joint press conference Monday to vent their frustration after their applications for the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) were denied.

“We are dumbfounded as to why the federal government has chosen to abandon our communities our region and our province,” Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said.

“This was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history, and for the first time we witnessed a nine-day closure of a key transporting corridor through the Fraser Valley.”

Five people and thousands of farm animals were killed in the November 2021 floods, precipitated by a series of unusually powerful atmospheric rivers.

About 15,000 people were forced from their homes and the province’s highways and rail links in and out of the Lower Mainland …