The province says it has opened disaster financial assistance (DFA) to people affected by the flash flood in Savona last month.

Around 20 homes were impacted due to overnight flash flooding on Sunday, June 30.

At the time, the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) said there were no injuries or major damage to critical infrastructure but Highway 1 was forced to close temporarily.

In the wake of the flooding, an Information Officer for TNRD told CityNews that a few households required temporary relocation due to the flood.

“We had a few households that saw a temporary relocation through the emergency social services,” she said. “They were out of their homes for a couple of days and probably well underway in trying to get everything cleaned up and returned home.”

At the time, Ellison said homeowners were working with their insurance policies to see if anything would be covered.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said residents affected by the flood can apply for assistance through a new online portal.

This portal is meant to speed up the process.

“The portal is designed to accept only complete applications to ensure people can be reimbursed for uninsured losses of essential items faster,” the province said.

Before this online portal, people had to follow a paper-based process.

DFA is available for homeowners, renters, business owners, farmers, corporations, and charities who couldn’t get insurance to cover disaster-related losses.

The maximum amount that can be claimed from the DFA is $400,000. Residents have until Oct. 14 to submit their claims.