‘Hell or High Water’ Fundraiser aiding victims of B.C.’s devastating floods

Months after floods devastated southwestern B.C., an effort is underway to support residents whose lives remain turned upside down.

Scores of musicians, entertainers and community leaders came together in Mission on Sunday to raise funds for communities in southwestern British Columbia devastated by November’s floods.

The Hell or High Water Disaster Relief fundraiser includes a 12-hour live-streamed telethon, with more than 100 musical performances and video messages from dignitaries, locals and musicians, along with a live concert at Mission’s Clarke Foundation Theatre.

Funds from the event will go to families in the communities of Merritt, Lytton, Princeton and Abbotsford along with surrounding First Nations communities, all of which were hit by November’s disaster, just months after being ravaged by deadly wildfires.

“A group of us have been hearing all these stories. Our close friends and families have been affected by the floods. We’ve been hearing all the tragic instances of the floods, the financial burdens they’re going through, the mental and physical stress, so we said enough is enough,” co-organizer Greg Girard told Global News.

Girard said the event had generated a “huge buzz” and was being aired in businesses across his home town of Merritt.

Donations have been pouring in from as far away as the U.S., France and Australia.

“Everyone is working tirelessly to make a difference,” he said.

Co-organizer Kenny Hess, who operates Merritt’s Rockin’ River Music Festival, said he saw first-hand how the flood affected the community, after it caused extensive grounds to the festival grounds.