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'I can't be more thankful': Man and dog rescued from Yarrow, B.C., home as it filled with water

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By the time Jordan Jongema tried to leave his parents' home in Yarrow, B.C., on Tuesday along with their beloved family pet, it was too late: the floodwater was too deep.

“As we were leaving, the water pooled over the road and it started like fountaining, like a stream,” he said. “I could have been driving into a deeper pool so I just...went back to my house and we had to wait it out in there. And as time went by, it got worse and worse.”

The Vernon resident had been house-sitting for his vacationing parents when the flooding began.

“Someone warned me on social media, just a few places down from my parents, that there (were) looters,” he said. “It kind of scared me. I promised my parents I’d watch the place.”

Jongema said he put a stick in the yard, and when he noticed the water was getting closer to it, he tried to leave with the dog, Bowser. But he had to turn back. He called 911 and waited as the water rose in the single-level home.

“I made markings on the wall, to kind of just observe, to see if it was getting worse, and it clearly was,” he said. “I started throwing stuff on the roof. I put my dog on my bed, which was higher off the ground.”

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, help finally arrived.

“The water had reached my bed, my bedroom window...it was starting to get very cold. It was very worrisome,” he said. “And I heard a boat motor down the road.”

Jongema said he grabbed a flashlight and started waving it outside until the rescuers arrived.

“And there they were,” he said. “I can’t be more thankful for the gentlemen that were on that boat.”

Members of Port Moody Fire Rescue had been called in to assist other first responders in the flood zone, and helped Jongema and Bowser through the bedroom window and onto their boat.

Deputy fire chief of operations Jason Harper said it was a “very surreal” night for the crew on the rescue boat.

“They were floating over tops of cars that were submerged,” he said. “Definitely there was concern there for life safety for Jordan and...Bowser.”

Harper said the one and a half year old Bernese Mountain dog and golden retriever cross seemed to enjoy the boat ride.

“Very gentle, very nice dog,” he said. “Both members that were attending...they’re basically dog lovers...it’s a feel good story out of an unfortunate situation.”

Harper said once Jongema and his dog were brought to safety, they transferred them over to Abbotsford fire crews.

“Everyone just knew their roles and it just made it a far more efficient operation,” he said. “We came together, worked well together, and did the best that we could.”

Jongema said both he and Bowser have now managed to get some sleep and are doing better, but what’s happened to his parents home is devastating.

“That’s the really depressing thing about it. They’ve had the place since 1996,” he said. “I feel for them so much, and this goes to anyone in that vicinity. I’m not the only person going through this.”

With Bowser now safe and staying with a friend, Jongema will be making his way back to Vernon through the United States.

He said he’s hoping all those affected by the flooding get support, and he is grateful for those who came to help when he needed it.

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