Hundreds of Abbotsford, B.C., students displaced as flood damage closes schools
Eight-year-old Reid Pemble misses his friends.
He misses his school.
“He loves his classroom and his teacher," explained his mom, Megan Pemble. “It’s tough not seeing his friends in the usual routine.”
Reid is one of about 300 students displaced after two Abbotsford, B.C., schools shut down because of flooding damage.
Reid is a student at Upper Sumas Elementary where the district said several feet of water poured into the building. The other school that’s closed is Barrowtown Elementary.
The flooding left the Abbotsford School District scrambling to find a way to get kids back to class.
It took a lot of juggling.
“We’ve got classroom spaces all around the district that we’ve set up temporarily and they’re doing quite well so far,” explained superintendent Kevin Godden. They hope to have the students all together in the same place in the new year.
Some students from Barrowtown Elementary are being taught in space offered by a Chilliwack church, which is closer to their homes. Other students are learning remotely.
The other challenge the district has faced is staffing.
Godden said about 250 Abbotsford School District staff live in Chilliwack, and highway closures have made getting to work difficult, if not impossible at times.
“We’ve hired a couple of coaches to transport those staff the long way on Highway 7 here every day,” said Godden.
The commute, he said, is two hours each way on a good day. The number of teachers using the bus varies, but as many as 70 have made the commute on any given day. There are a couple pick-up and drop-off locations.
“In addition to that, we have some hotel rooms for staff who are willing and able to stay in the community," Godden added.
Reid’s first day in his “new” class was Tuesday. On Wednesday, flooding kept him at home.
“When we went to check the road this morning, the water was already rushing over Whatcom (Road),” said Reid’s mom.
Meanwhile, Megan Pemble’s older son, who is in Grade 6, is staying with his grandmother.
“He goes to Abby Middle (school) so it wasn’t safe for us to keep travelling back and forth,” Pemble said.
Godden said while damage assessments are still being done, it’s expected it will take four or five months to repair Upper Sumas Elementary. Barrowtown Elementary will open much sooner.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.