Act of God allows cutoff of compensation for residents impacted by landslide

NELSON, B.C. – A so-called act of God is allowing the province of B.C. to cut off compensation for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Johnsons Landing landslide.

An avalanche of mud and debris rolled over the tiny community in southeast B.C. last July, killing four people.

The province has provided about $300,000 in disaster financial assistance so far and will provide about the same amount again to an undisclosed number of residents.

But David Curtis, with Emergency Management B.C., says the government doesn’t have to provide more compensation because the province wasn’t at fault for the slide.

A report released yesterday says heavy rain and spring snowmelt triggered the slide that destroyed five homes and left another 18 properties at high risk of another potential landslide.

Curtis says there’s no mechanism for the government to buy the homes around the landslide and the province would only provide exceptional assistance if the province was somehow at fault for the slide.