Catastrophic economic impact of B.C. floods
The B.C. floods have crippled the flow of cargo in and out of Vancouver ports, further damaging already pandemic-strained supply issues. That presents a huge cost to the local and national economy.
"This supply chain delivers fuel, food, medicine and essential goods to Canadians and supports an agriculture sector that is facing catastrophic impact," said Oman Alghabra, minister of Transport Canada.
Sections of some major connector roads are washed away, bridges are destroyed, Highway 1 east is flooded and sections of the main rail corridors from Vancouver to points east are closed after some lines washed out. Vancouver is cut-off from the rest of the country.
In a statement, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said: "The Vancouver gateway is experiencing significantly disrupted rail and truck movement due to widespread flooding throughout the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions. Despite these impacts, marine terminals at the Port of Vancouver are still operating."
However, the cargo and supply lines could clog up with nowhere for the goods to go and no route in for exports.
Disrupted terminal operations are expected. Around noon on Thursday, there were 33 cargo vessels anchored in Burrard Inlet all the way up to Deep Cove. On Friday morning, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said it had 42 vessels at anchor.
Neither of the country's two rail lines have a timeline when repairs will be complete.
"CN crews continue to make progress on critical repair work following the mud slides and washouts that impacted CN’s rail network in British Columbia. Traffic through southern B.C., northbound and eastbound traffic from Vancouver, as well as inbound traffic to Vancouver from east/north of Kamloops are still affected by the situation," writes Mathieu Gaudreault, CN Railway senior advisor of medial relations.
Canadian Pacific Railway issued a statement saying, "CP's operations between Spences Bridge and Falls Creek, B.C., remain suspended following heavy rains that have resulted in multiple track outages."
"I'm going to use the word catastrophe," said Trevor Heaver, an emeritus professor with the University of B.C.'s Sauder School of Business. "We really don't have any precedent by which to judge the magnitude of the effect."
The supply chain disruption is the perfect storm coming in the wake of pandemic supply issues in the middle of the holiday shopping season.
Vancouver ports export about four times as much goods as imports, but either way the impact on the economy is significant.
"The economic impact of the flooding overall is going to have many ramifications and also for a long time, and it's also going to take a considerable time for our supply chains, import and export, to be able to get back to normal," added Heaver.
He expects it could be well into next year before we begin to see anything resembling normal.
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.