B.C. minister visits flood-damaged town, promises support to repair damage
British Columbia's public safety minister got a first-hand look Friday of the destruction caused by torrential rainstorms that forced rivers over their banks and ripped away roads and bridges.
Mike Farnworth visited Princeton and said he saw “incredible devastation” to homes and infrastructure in the southern Interior town, about 280 kilometres east of Vancouver.
“It's heartbreaking. You talk to people and it's emotional just to look at it,” he said in a telephone interview from a restaurant in the town. “But what you also hear is people are so thankful and grateful for the way the community's come together.”
Mayor Spencer Coyne showed Farnworth the damage to his community. Farnworth said there is a lot of work to do in the rebuilding effort, including to a dike, a gas line and homes.
Farnworth said the government is doing all it can to help affected communities recover.
The B.C. government is still assessing the damage done to its highways and agriculture industry after a series of “atmospheric rivers” pummelled the southern part of the province.
Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said her federal counterpart will visit areas affected by floods next week to speak with farmers.
Popham said 97 per cent of egg-laying chickens and 98 per cent of dairy cows on the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford survived the flooding, but she expects turkey prices will rise this Christmas because of added transportation costs.
“Unfortunately, it's taking longer to get things where they're needed and that's costing the trucking industry more. It's an unfortunate complication,” Popham said.
Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said the government is in the planning stages of determining temporary measures to open major arteries between B.C.'s Lower Mainland and the Interior, including the Coquihalla Highway. Five bridges on the highway in southern B.C. were washed away.
Many residents who were given little notice to leave Merritt will be allowed to return home on Sunday if water samples come back clean, while those whose homes were the most damaged are now allowed to go in during the day to assess the situation.
Abbotsford residents of about 240 properties were told they could return to their homes on Friday.
Mayor Henry Braun announced evacuation orders for the northern section of Sumas Prairie were lifted.
The prairie, which is home to much of the region's agriculture production, was devastated by floodwaters that reached nearly two and a half metres deep.
“I have many friends up there,” Braun said. “It's good to see them go back.”
The mayor said he has heard it could take affected farmers six months to a few years to return to normal operations, depending on the type of farming.
“We may not fully recover for a decade, people tell me,” he said.
Officials will be monitoring how floodwaters recede over the weekend to determine when other evacuation orders will be lifted, he said.
Also Friday, the Fraser Valley Regional District issued an evacuation order for 52 properties in the Hatzic Prairie, warning that debris was making rivers and sloughs overflow their banks.
- By Nick Wells in Vancouver, with files from Dirk Meissner in Victoria.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion, 1 person seriously injured: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.