The City of Merritt has been conducting Rapid Damage Assessments of buildings in the flood inundation zone.

Post-Disaster Building Assessments (PDBA) are allowing the city to more rapidly assess the safety of buildings. This will allow our residents to return to their homes and businesses as soon as possible.

Placards are placed by assessment teams to indicate the outcome of the building assessment and to provide information about the extent and nature of the damage to owners and occupants. There are three types of placards:

Green: to indicate no restrictions for entry or use upon the rescinding of the Evacuation Order for the relevant area.

Yellow: to indicate that entry or use is restricted. The building may require further action and/or a detailed assessment or return to-function assessment.

Restrictions may include:

  • Use of only designated portions
  • Inability to use non-structural components
  • Use of the whole or a portion of the building once countermeasures or repairs indicated on the placard have been completed and inspected and approved

Red: to indicate that the building should not be used or entered. Buildings may be declared unsafe because of the nature and extent of the structural damage or geotechnical hazards.

Our assessment team is completing all Rapid Damage Assessments as quickly as possible. The City of Merritt is also actively working on a system on how to communicate with residents on the status of their homes and to allow limited re-entry to collect belongings, clean and mitigate damage where it is safe to do so.

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