La Presse in British Columbia | “I don’t see the worst that could happen”

(Abbotsford) Despite heavy rains continuing to fall over the Fraser Valley, area residents received rare good news Thursday: The waters have not started to rise again and some roads may have reopened. But no one wanted to be happy, while nature has not said its last word.

Eric-Pierre Champagne
Press

Martin Tremblay
Press

“As you can imagine, today’s weather event and the other two to come have been at the heart of our concerns,” Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said Thursday during his briefing. daily press in front of a handful of journalists.

When the event was over, the 71-year-old man hurriedly left the tiny room at City Hall to return to work. “His schedule is very busy at the moment,” confirms his press officer.

The weather forecast for the next few days is the main topic of discussion. Press. Crossbreed while walking her golden retriever in the rain, Leslie Stattler admits that she waits with a little anxiety for the next few days.

Environment Canada anticipates the passage of a third atmospheric river as of Monday, which could again do much damage in the region.

However, she says she is luckier than some of her neighbors. “We had some water in the basement, but others were completely flooded. ”

If the water receded from this area, called Clayburn, traces of the disaster were still visible during the passage of Press. Sandbags were still present in front of several properties, some torn by the passage of water.

Only one piece spared

A few streets further on, Brock Ritchie was showing himself to be a philosopher, beer in hand in front of his flooded house a few days earlier. “This is the family home that I bought 12 years ago. There has never been any flooding here, barely any occasional water on the ground. ”

Inside, only one room has been spared, he says, opening the door to show his living room where a huge fan rests on plywood. “I had a superb wood floor, I had to remove everything. ”

Does he fear the heavy rains expected in the coming days?

In the Sumas Plain, only a few roads are open, showing part of the extent of the damage. Several fields are still flooded. In places, you can see bits of torn asphalt in the middle of a field. Reconstruction will take a long time in the Fraser Valley, especially for farmers and farmers.

Earlier this week, the mayor of Abbotsford admitted that some could be discouraged by the scale of the task and put their farm up for sale. “Their whole life was destroyed. ”

Concerns about water quality

The authorities are still concerned about the quality of the water in certain sectors where its use is prohibited, except for toilets. Thousands of dead animals have still not been removed, to which must be added flooded vehicles and farm machinery. Analyzes are underway, we say.

A few hours earlier, the authorities reopened the Trans-Canada Highway to Chilliwack, located about thirty kilometers to the north. This is rare good news since it should facilitate travel in the region. Secondary roads remain closed, however, and several police checkpoints have not yet been lifted.

Further north, however, it will be necessary to wait until January to reopen the Coquihalla highway, the province’s Transport Minister Rob Fleming said Thursday.

Storm expected

Mayor Henry Braun is expecting the next storm, which should drop 80 mm of rain next Tuesday, according to Environment Canada forecasts.

He says he’s convinced the reinforced dikes around Abbotsford will prevent further flooding during Thursday’s and Saturday’s storm, but worries about the third episode scheduled for next week, especially since it could bring almost as much of precipitation than that which caused the floods.

“We are monitoring the levels of the Nooksack and Sumas rivers very closely,” he insisted. At the moment, we are still moving in the right direction. But that said, it will take weeks to successfully pump out all that water. “