Recovery begins in northeastern B.C. after record flooding

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – Across northeastern British Columbia, approximately 418 properties are affected by flooding after an unprecedented amount of rain in the region.

And while Friday brought sunny skies and drying conditions, it also meant people could see the full extent of damage to their property for the first time.

“Oh my god,” said Nicole Palfy, as she surveyed the damage in her Dawson Creek basement suite.

The water came through the walls, going as high as four feet in some places, overturning her fridge and destroying everything that wasn’t on a wall or a cabinet.

“I know I could I have a crew help me clear it out, but where am I going to put it? It’s all garbage,” she said.

READ MORE: Dawson Creek declares state of emergency; highways to be closed for several days

Palfy left her home in the middle of the night Thursday morning, but her car only made it one block before it got stuck in the rising water that submerged much of the southwest corner of the city.

“I’ve never see a house that full of water. This has never happened to me. It doesn’t matter how many times you see it or hear it, you can’t know what it’s like until it’s you,” she said.

“You forget the oddest things. You grab the weirdest things. I didn’t remember a hairbrush, toothbrush, shoes, nothing. I had what was in my car. I grabbed my mother’s Christmas present. You don’t think to grab things, no matter how well prepared you are.”

It wasn’t just people within Dawson Creek who were affected. Many of the hardest hit regions were between Chetwynd and Dawson Creek, where the majority of roads quickly became impassable.

Trish Morgan, spokeswoman for the Peace River Regional District, said two helicopters were deployed Thursday to assess damage in rural areas where roads and bridges had washed out or were damaged.

Many people were stranded between Mackenzie and Chetwynd – including a young family who were eventually choppered out.

The 11-week-old baby girl, along with her mother and grandmother, stayed with local residents overnight Thursday, said Leo Sabulsky, fire chief and co-ordinator of the emergency program in Chetwynd.

“The baby had a nutritional issue and had to have goat’s milk so we had goat’s milk ready at the scene,” he said, adding members of the emergency social services team helped the infant, named Ramone, and her family, from Quesnel and Peace River, Alta.

Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness Naomi Yamamoto said the province began accepting applications Friday from residents, businesses and non-profit groups seeking disaster financial assistance.

‘I was happy to help’: Dawson Creek rallies after massive flooding

But Ray Piper, whose family has farmed north of Dawson Creek for generations, isn’t optimistic.

“Odds are I’ll get nothing from that. Last time the same situation happened, they refused to help. They told me crop insurance would cover it, but crop insurance takes it from the average of all your fields,” lamented Piper.

Two hundred acres of his canola crops were quickly flooded on Thursday as the culverts quickly gave way.

“If it’s underwater, this is a canola field, it can only last so long without oxygen. When it’s covered with water it dies. The stuff that isn’t covered, there’s a good chance it’s probably hurt bad,” said Piper.

He estimates he’ll lose over $100,000 because of the floods, and is disappointed the government has continually used culverts instead of bridges to deal with waterways in the region.

PHOTOS: The damage to Ray Piper’s canola crops after flooding north of Dawson Creek

“It’s really frustrating. You put your crop in, you do your best, then the government builds a dam – which is essentially what they’ve done – so the water doesn’t flow across properly,” said Piper.

As the waters recede and residents take stock of the future, most are taking recovery one step at a time.

“I have a place to sleep tonight,” said Palfy, “and then beyond that…it’s assess, rebuild, repair, whatever you need to do.”

– With files from The Canadian Press