Second surge from Nooksack River impacts some B.C. farms, businesses along the border
As a flood from the Nooksack River poured into Sumas Prairie for the second time in two weeks, some farmers remained extremely concerned Monday evening about how severe its impact will be.
While the waters appeared to be skirting the Huntingdon Village neighbourhood, where some 90 homes remain under evacuation order, they were still flowing into the fields to the northeast, including into Cynthia Dykman’s family farm.
“We won’t be sleeping tonight, that’s for sure,” Dykman told CTV News around 5:30 p.m.
She said the family was preparing to evacuate one low-lying barn, home to 300 calves, with the water level rising and their pumps getting clogged.
“You just throw your hands in the air and do the best you can,” she said, adding that they were ready to move the calves to higher ground just as they did two weeks ago.
Earlier, before the waters rose, chicken and blueberry farmer Ed Friesen came out to survey the few dry patches left in his fields.
“We’re good. We’re all alive. And we are surviving,” Friesen said.
“I think we’re as prepared as we can be,” he said, adding they’d moved all the chicks to the second floor, and that living through the first flood had made them a “little bit smarter.”
Meanwhile, Wayne Elias, the manager for a recycling plant along the border that had just re-opened for a couple days, before waters shut it again, watched warily.
He called the Nooksack flood a “slow motion train wreck.”
“You’re standing here, and watching the water come,” Elias said. “And there’s just nothing you can do.”
Others, like Shawn Hystek, who has lived all his life on the prairie, expressed optimism the waters didn’t appear to be as high or intense as first forecast.
“I put a marker at my father-in-law’s creek there to see how quick the water has come up,” he told CTV Monday afternoon.
“It’s not rising too fast, (so I’m) feeling a lot more comfortable this time.”
Still, there is widespread concern, Hystek said, about the third of three atmospheric rivers set to impact the Fraser Valley starting late Tuesday, especially with many homes and farms on the eastern end of Sumas Prairie still entirely inaccessible.
“Let’s see how the rest of the week goes with the rain,” he said.
“It’d be nice to just have life go back to normal now.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.