Farnworth said at a news conference that the province had “mobilized assets” in the Bella Coola Valley while crews worked around the clock to secure levees and dams to protect vital infrastructure, farmland and homes in southwest BC
At Abbotsford, where a dike breach resulted in extensive flooding, officials said they were confident about the repairs, makeshift dams and sandbags.
The most recent storm may not have the same intensity as the rainfall that hit the Fraser Valley and southern inland earlier this month, Farnworth said, but the cumulative impact of successive storms poses a major challenge.
“The next storm is uncertain as forecast models vary, but we are doing everything we can to ensure people and communities have the resources and support they need,” he said.
Emergency Management BC worked with 500 military personnel, local government workers and community volunteers to provide shelter, food, medicine, emergency kits, fuel and other resources to those in need, he said.
Also on Tuesday, the Fraser Valley Regional District released a statement from Chairman Jason Lum calling for urgent help from provincial and federal governments that critical infrastructure was “on the verge of failure.”
“In the current provincial structure, we have to apply for funding and assistance on a case-by-case basis for things as basic as an excavator, and frankly the answers come too little late,” the statement said.
In response, Farnworth said emergency officers contacted Lum and the county directly to ensure they were getting the assistance they needed.
The province has directed local governments to take measures, if necessary, to reduce the imminent risk of injury or loss, he said in a statement emailed, and such measures do not require provincial approval of the spending.
“However, it is recommended that local authorities obtain approval for financial assistance to verify assumptions about what response costs the country is considering for financial assistance, especially when the cost items are large.”
Transport Secretary Rob Fleming said Highways 3 and 99 had been cleaned up, assessed and reopened for essential traffic on Monday, but the latter will be closed again on Tuesday afternoon between Pemberton and Lillooet due to the forecast.
It’s the same route that four bodies were found and one person went missing after a mudslide more than two weeks ago.
In response to heavy rainfall in the central coast forecast, a travel warning has been issued and maintenance teams have been dispatched to sections of Highway 20 between Bella Coola and Williams Lake, Fleming told the news conference.
Highway 1 remained closed between Chilliwack and Abbotsford and a section east of Chilliwack between Hope and Popkum Township, he added.
The rain should mostly subside on Thursday and Friday, Castellan said, although a smaller system is expected to hit the south coast by late Friday.
“We’re not expecting large, large volumes, but we will be keeping a very close eye on the ongoing storms on the British Columbia coast as we move into next week.”
Each of the weather systems that have hit BC since mid-November has dumped large amounts of snow at higher elevations.
Castellan said freezing point could be expected to rise below the latest atmospheric flow and melting snow would increase runoff in already swollen rivers.
BC’s River Forecast Center has issued flood monitors for the central and south coasts, Vancouver Island, and areas around the Lower Fraser, Skagit, Similkameen, Tulameen, Coldwater, and Nicola rivers in the Fraser Valley and southern inland areas.
There was also a higher-level flood warning for the Coquihalla River east of Hope.
Dave Campbell of the center said they also monitored the water level in the Nooksack River in Washington state, which contributed to flooding in a prime agricultural area of Abbotsford earlier this month. The river’s water level fell over the weekend, but the upcoming rain could push it back up, he said.
Avalanche Canada also warned Tuesday of an “increasingly dangerous avalanche cycle” in many of British Columbia’s mountain ranges. It rated the risk on the south and northwest coasts and east of BC from Chetwynd South to Castlegar as high to extreme.
People should stay away from the avalanche area, as avalanches “should travel all the way to the valley floor with the arrival of this third atmospheric river,” it said.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said at a press conference that although the water level had stabilized overall, he issued two evacuation orders on Tuesday after local flooding and several streets in the northern part of the city were closed.
Braun said damage assessments were being carried out after extensive flooding, partly due to the overflowing Nooksack River in neighboring Washington state, and there was some uncertainty about what could happen if it breached its banks again.
However, Whatcom County on the American side of the border didn’t expect it to overflow in the next few days, Braun said.
In his community, the repair work on the dikes has been completed, he said.
“I would like to say once again to all of our residents that we did everything possible to protect our community during this last weather event, at least for this week.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 30, 2021.
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