WATCH: Members of a Hope church are overwhelmed with the damage done to their campground by last week’s devastating ice storm. Jeremy Hunka explains.
The winter storm this week caused plenty of damage throughout the Fraser Valley – but it’s possible no place was as badly damaged as Camp Hope.
“Everybody that comes out here just can’t believe it,” says Todd Schafer of the camp, which is operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “They think it’s bad, but then they get here and they’re shocked.”
“It’s like a war zone.”
PHOTOS: Damage at the Camp Hope Camp and Conference Centre (All photos by Jeremy Hunka)
The conference, camping and wedding centre just west of Hope is facing up to $200,000 in total damage, but is trying to look on the bright side.
“We’ve got a lot of volunteers coming to help us clean up, so it’s all good,” says Schafer. “Everybody’s working together, it’s a wonderful thing.”
However, the damage is immense. Hundreds of trees are split, electrical wiring is destroyed in many places and the chapel’s stained glass windows were broken. Over $3,000 of food was lost while the power was out, and over 60 people had to be sent home.
“We had a lot of other projects we wanted to do, and I think this will hold us back for a while,” says Schafer, who says they’re hoping insurance will cover much of the costs.
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