Evacuees find shelter in Kelowna

• Registration at Willow Park Church in Rutland
• Lodging, food, and other allowances included

Around 1,000 evacuees impacted by flooding in the Interior have arrived in Kelowna.

“We’re a full house again,” Dave Harrison, Reception Center Manager, told Kelowna10 Wednesday afternoon.

Evacuees are provided lodging, be it a hotel room or local billet, meals and/or groceries, as well as clothing money and an incidental allowance for things such as toiletries and pet care.

Harrison said when evacuees arrive at Willow Park Church in Rutland, they are given a number and meet with a volunteer who helps them register for assistance.

“A lot of these people, they were out of their homes, their vehicles are still underwater where they lived at, so all they’ve got is the clothes on their back and that’s it,” Harrison said.

“They were very grateful to be able to get a bed to sleep in and a warm place and hot food to eat.”

With a crippled transportation network into the Lower Mainland from the Interior, meals were becoming more difficult to come by as some restaurants face supply shortages.

“We’re fortunate we have lots of hotels. Right now, Kamloops is out of hotels, so that’s why they’re sending people down here. That’s why we’re getting such an influx of people,” Harrison said.

With a state of emergency declared by the B.C. government, Kelowna’s Emergency Support Services said it can increase the assistance from 72 hours to seven days. Once the seven days are up, evacuees can get another seven.