Port Coquitlam to review atmospheric river response

Ken Swain has a major mess on his hands.

His front yard is strewn with ruined mattresses and other furniture.

“I’d say two and a half, three feet of water went through the whole house,” Swain told CTV News outside his Port Coquitlam home. “Two laundry rooms flooded, two bedrooms downstairs, two rec rooms flooded, two bathrooms flooded, showers.”

Adding to the misery: this is the second time swain has experienced a major flood in this house.

Along with his son, they had just renovated the downstairs area.

“They got a culvert down there that’s only five feet high that the water runs through,” Swain said in reference to the city’s infrastructure. “You need at least a 10-foot-high culvert down there. If that culvert was higher, that water would whoosh through.”

Swain is far from alone with the owners of 45 properties making “calls for service” to the city in relation to the atmospheric river.

And Mayor Brad West is promising a review of what happened and how the city handled the situation.

“After an event like this, we’re definitely going to conduct an internal review,” acknowledged Port Coquitlam’s Manager of Public Works in an interview with CTV News. “Everything from our proactive maintenance activities on our drainage infrastructure, from our emergency response.

“I think there’s always an opportunity to learn and grow from these events, and that’s what we’re focused in on doing.”

The city has plans to for two pump station upgrades at a cost of $24 million in the next two years.

In the meantime, Swain and dozens of other homeowners have been left to pick up the pieces and try to make their homes livable once again.