The province says it expects new changes to the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program will "significantly" reduce processing times for claims filed in 2010.
This month, PDAP will be hiring 30 additional temporary staff and adding a second work shift to get through the existing backlog before the anticipated arrival of a new influx of spring flooding claims. The Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety, and Policing has also announced plans to "process claims based on their relative size and risk" in an effort to streamline the work.
PDAP has been criticized for its slow issuance of payments related to last year's flooding, despite numerous revisions to the program since summer.
In Yorkton, about 850 out of 1,170 PDAP claims from 2010 remain unclosed. About $4.2 million out of the $14.5 million paid out to date through the program has gone to Yorkton.
A handful of residents still remain in temporary housing as a result of the July 1 flood. According to Marlene Markham, manager of the SIGN on Broadway hotel, four flood victims are still staying in rooms in that building.
That number is down from 25 in December and more than 100 between SIGN and the Howard Johnson Inn during the immediate aftermath of the flood.
