Hundreds of Princeton flood victims face homelessness at the end of March, if there is no intervention from higher levels of government.

As the Red Cross prepares to transition its displaced clients to interim or longer-term housing, those people will literally have no place to go, according to Mayor Spencer Coyne.

鈥淲e are running out of options,鈥� he told the Spotlight. 鈥淭here is no hotel space, there are no rentals, there are no rentals anywhere around us and there is very limited hotel space around us.鈥�

Housing studies indicate there is a zero vacancy rate in the municipality.

Boundary-Similkameen MLA Roly Russell, while admitting there is no solution to the looming crisis at this time, said he鈥檚 committed to making sure flood victims will have some place to live.

鈥淚鈥檓 not in a position to say 鈥榶es鈥� or 鈥榥o鈥� but there is certainly a lot of energy focused on it,鈥� he said in an interview last week.

In December, the Town of Princeton requested funding from the province for a temporary housing camp, 100 self-contained units to be placed in the industrial park.

Those funds didn鈥檛 come through, and it鈥檚 a consequence of antiquated and restrictive legislation, according to Russell.

鈥淲hat we have inherited here for emergency response and recovery is old and outdated.鈥�

The crux of the issue is that Emergency Management BC cannot fund recovery projects, while there is no other ministry that oversees recovery needs.

鈥淲e are working on it and trying to figure out how to accommodate the request of the town,鈥� said Russell. 鈥淲e have to be creative.鈥�

He added the government is also reviewing emergency response policies to make improvements for future events.

鈥淭here is a genuine desire to build a better system going forward,鈥� Russell said.

In December, the roles first performed by local Emergency Social Services (ESS) 鈥� distributing food and clothing vouchers 鈥� were transferred at the province鈥檚 request to the Canadian Red Cross.

The CRC registered 371 households, representing 618 people. Two hundred and ninety households were issued one-time $2,000 payments, benefiting 500 individuals. The CRC also overtook the arrangement and funding of temporary accommodations for evacuated residents.

Some of those people were placed in local hotels and motels, and others were sent out of the community to hotels in Penticton, Kamloops, Kelowna and the Lower Mainland.

Early in February, the CRC began informing clients it would be stepping away from providing emergency accommodations, and those arrangements handled by the agency would cease Feb. 15, according to Coyne.

The mayor learned about the plan third-hand, and organized meetings to forestall that move, securing a new deadline of March 31.

In response to an inquiry from the Spotlight the Red Cross issued a written response that stated in part:

鈥淏road commercial accommodations support remains available up until at least March 31, and provides individuals and families impacted by the floods with the time they need to find longer term housing options that meet their needs鈥�.

鈥淭he Red Cross will continue to provide personalized recovery supports to individuals and families, such as housing repair and reconstruction, further interim housing assistance as needed, as well as non-financial support. The Red Cross will also work with the provincial government and the Town of Princeton as they seek to secure more permanent solutions to housing challenges.鈥�

Specific questions about how the lack of available housing in Princeton and area could impact flood victims, under the circumstances, were unanswered by Dean Pogas, director of communications for Red Cross BC and Yukon.

In a telephone interview, he directed the Spotlight back to the CRC鈥檚 written statement.

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com