Flood disaster takes bite out of B.C. economy, sends infrastructure wake-up call
Economic growth in British Columbia will face erosion from recent floods and slides that crippled transportation links, but the resilience of government and industry to keep supply chains open limits the damage, says an economist.
Vital road, rail and port links were severed for weeks when a series of record-breaking rains last month deluged southern B.C., flooding highways and farms and forcing about 15,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Ken Peacock, senior vice-president and chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., said he estimated the weather disaster will result in lost economic output for the province ranging from $250 million to $400 million.
“We're sort of thinking maybe the direct impact of shutting down the highways, closing the rails, the Trans Mountain pipeline being down and then the retail impacts, we're kind of thinking maybe three-tenths of a percentage point,” he said.
“It would shave off growth for 2021.”
He said the economic impact estimate does not forecast the repair and rebuilding costs, which the government has said will be massive.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson said recently she will provide a cleared picture of the province's finances in her February budget. Last month she said B.C. was heading for a strong economic recovery after a 3.4 per cent decline in 2020, but uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood damage costs remain.
Earlier this month, Robinson said the province's Economic Forecast Council predicted economic growth in B.C. of 5.3 per cent in 2021 and 4.2 per cent in 2022.
Peacock said the economic impact of the floods would have been felt more if the province was not in a period of economic rebound.
“So three-tenths of a percentage point doesn't feel or sound like much when you are talking four per cent growth. But if we're in our normal world of two per cent to two-and-a-half per cent growth, then three-tenths of a per cent is much more meaningful,” he said.
The closure of highways and rail lines due to flooding and limited access to port facilities in Vancouver sent alarms to government and industry to quickly repair infrastructure and keep supply chains in operation, even if it meant moving goods on different highways or rail routes, said Peacock.
“One thing that has become very clear for sure for government and policy-makers is that this has been kind of not a warning but a very clear indicator of just how dependent we are on some infrastructure and transportation connections,” he said.
The four-lane Coquihalla Highway, the major road transportation route to and from Vancouver, reopened to commercial traffic Dec. 20 after floods and slides damaged 20 sections of the highway, including seven bridges.
Officials at Vancouver's port, the largest in Canada, said rail service is flowing smoothly again following major disruptions due to damaged rail lines.
“While the reopening of the Coquihalla Highway will provide renewed access for the movement of goods by truck throughout the Interior of B.C. and into Alberta, the majority of volumes across all sectors moving to and from the port move by rail,” said Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in a statement. “At this time, both railways serving the port are currently operating consistently between Vancouver and Kamloops.”
James Thompson, vice-president of western operations for Canadian National Railway, said access to the Vancouver port was cut off from Nov. 14 to Dec. 4 due to 58 damaged sites in the Fraser Canyon area from Ashcroft to Yale.
It took 400 employees and 110 pieces of equipment working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to repair the tracks, with the largest job being a major washout in the Fraser Canyon at Jackass Mountain, he said.
“We put 282,000 yards of rock to backfill what was taken away in the slide and storm, and to put that in approximate terms that are easy to understand, that's approximately 25,000 18-wheeler loads of ballast rock, riprap and other materials at that one location,” said Thompson.
CN was effectively shut down from Kamloops to Vancouver, forcing the company to move some of its traffic to Prince Rupert, he said.
Thompson said the storm was a one of a kind event. But coming just months after wildfires in the same area that closed rail service, it only served as a reminder of the power of weather in the era of climate change.
“We do try and plan and build contingencies and resiliency into our network. But at the end of the day, I can't say it any better than this: the railroad is an outdoor sport and Mother Nature makes the rules,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.