Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yeah, we all know the extent of the damage caused by flooding in Hay River and the reserve and in outlying parts of the area as well. And, you know, we were fortunate enough to get the pathway the pathfinders in and the assessors in in a timely manner, and they did a great job. They were set up in Hay River. They were set up in the arena. A lot of people, you know, attended the arena. And as far as I know, there's approximately 300 applications at this point.
So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of MACA confirm where the department is with receiving applications and conducting assessments of those impacted by flooding in the South Slave? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.
And I thank the Member for that. So the Member is correct as soon as it was safe we had our pathfinders in. We are working with impacted residents and that. So we are encouraging people to register, whether it's online or into the Hay River evacuation centre. As I said, we've had people going door to door on the reserve. So we do have pathfinders in there working on that. So once we get that, then we will have our assessors go in and check out the damages. And so again, it's working on the process. And again, the numbers, I'm not a hundred percent sure. Last number I heard was a hundred homes have already been assessed. We've had over over 230 people registered. And again, that doesn't count the KFN, but. So we are in the process of working there. Once we have the assessments and that, then the pathfinders will reach out to the homeowners, and we'll go from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that in talking with the pathfinders and the assessors is that they were will probably be out of Hay River at end of this week. At least the pathfinders. The assessors may be in there a little bit longer.
So I'd ask the Minister to confirm, you know, how long the pathfinders will actually be in Hay River and the assessors as well. And once they do leave, there will be some people who probably have not registered, so how will those people contact a pathfinder to register? Will we have somebody stationed in Hay River on a temporary basis? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our pathfinders are supposed to be there until we finish dealing with this crisis that's happening in Hay River and the reserve. So we are looking at trying to find some local pathfinders, because right now we have pathfinders that are outside the community. They are working there. So we're working to try to find local pathfinders to help that there.
I also have to say thank you to the MLA from Hay River North and Hay River South and to the Deh Cho MLA. They are willing to help out, and they had the conversations. We've given them the information. So I also have reached out to had the opportunity to talk to the insurance company. They're in Hay River. And we've shared that information. We've given the information to everybody as much as possible, encouraging people to register there. But if they have problems, to reach out to our MACA office. They will help make sure people register. That's part of our disaster assistance policy. You need to register there.
In regards toour assessors, the assessors are going to be there until all the homes are assessed. We have seven there. Wewere prepared, that we had the assessors lined up in case this happened. So we have seven there. They're there to be there through the whole process.
But also I need to really stress, the pathfinders are not just going to disappear. We're still using our pathfinders for the Little Buffalo, Jean Marie, Fort Simpson, and Fort Good Hope. We still have pathfinders working with the communities that are still affected from the 2021 flood. So right now they're there. And if residents have a concern, they can reach out to our regional office, to the MLA's office, or even my office. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the number of people that have been impacted in Hay River and the surrounding area is fairly substantial. Some of them have actually taken on and done some of the work themselves in their house just to avoid, you know, advanced mold, you know, causing issues and that. So they've stripped the you know, their basements down and have done quite a bit of work.
Many have had their houses assessed already. And now the question that they've been asking, what's next. Like, do we have to wait a week, you know, a month, a year before we hear, you know, where we stand in, you know, what type of reimbursement orwhat costs will be will be allowed to fix their places.
They're ready to start. They're ready to get back in their homes. They want to be back in their homes. And they're ready to, you know, bring in contractors.
So Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm the next steps and timelines in the DAP process because residents want to start rebuilding. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last year my constituents were going through this as well as Little Buffalo and Fort Good Hope. So I just need to make sure people are aware there are multiple steps. Many of them are occurring at the same time. You know, the GNWT needs to see the results of the detailed damage assessments to better understand the nature and extent of the flood damage. Some houses are impacted more than others and same with businesses. Many people have already started their cleanup and repair work, and they've been in touch with their insurance providers.
And again, we encourage people to start the process as soon as they can. What I also need to really stress is that when people are doing it, take pictures, record the make sure they have the receipts and then as well record the time that they're working themselves are on there so we can keep track of that.
As well, once the damage of assessments are provided to people, they can ask for an advancement. So when you give them the assessment, they can if they can't afford to do it right away, they can do an advance. So it gets up to it's $10,000 but up to 50 percent of the assessment. And so when we say $10,000, if it's more expensive for somebody and they don't have the money, we are able to advance it up to 50 percent there.
Just just like I said, if they're going to start doing the work, please document it. That's the one thing that I learnt from the last flood. Some people didn't start documenting until after. So document, make sure you keep your receipts, and take pictures through the whole process.
When I was in the town of Hay River, that's what I was stressing to people, get to work right away as soon as you can to start dealing with this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some of the people have actually had insurance, and I know some of the insurance companies have actually already stroked cheques for some of the residents who have been impacted. And so it's people that are going to be relying on government assistance through the DAP, you know, are wondering, you know, how soon they're going to see money and to provide DAP support.
And there's a lot of people just don't have the funds sitting in their bank account to proceed.
So I'd ask the Minister, you know, when can people expect to see those advance payments and how are those advance payments going to be calculated. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to that question there, the process is that the assessments will come in; they will do the assessment of the damage. Then the pathfinders will reach out to the impacted homeowner or businessowner and explain what the assessment is. Then we'll also have that conversation about do they need an advance, do they need this here.
Then through the process, it's basically seven to ten days once we process the advance.
So, again, it's about asking people to be a little bit patient right now as we go through the process. Once we have the assessments done, we explain and have that conversation with the homeowner or the businessowner. Then we would be able to get the advance going into the system. And it takes seven to ten days. And that's what the process was last year.
And it's quick. It's usually 30 days with the Financial Management Board, but the department of finance has been very cooperative in helping us address the situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
