The mayor of Abbotsford, B.C., got emotional Saturday as he announced major progress in the fight against floodwaters that have devastated a key agricultural area of his city.
“I’ve been living and breathing this for a whole week,” a choked-up Henry Braun said as he announced the floodgate on the Sumas River had finally been partially opened overnight.
The river had swelled not only from the torrential amount of rain that fell last weekend, but because of water from Washington state’s flooded Nooksack River continuing to flow north into B.C.
It was those waters that breached dikes surrounding Abbotsford’s Sumas Prairie, leading to the evacuation of more than 600 people and the deaths of the thousands of farm animals.
The city wasn’t able to open the floodgates until the water level in the Fraser River dropped. Now that they’re partially open, Braun said, the city can move seven times the volume of water out of the flood zone than it had with the Barrowtown pump station.
“You won’t believe how excited I was when I saw that this morning,” Braun said.
“There’s a dramatic change already in certain parts of the prairie … I can visually see a lot of green fields already.”
The floodgates weren’t the only progress in Abbotsford on Saturday.
Braun said crews working through the night were able to close about half of the largest breach in the city’s dike system — a gap of about 100 metres.
Engineers and contractors, supported by 119 military personnel, have also made progress on other breaches and in repairing weakened sections of the dike, he said.
Military helicopters arrived last night, with more on the way, to help move crews, equipment and supplies throughout the disaster zone.
Despite the progress, Braun said he remained concerned about an incoming weather system, forecast to dump up to 100 millimetres of rain on the region next week.
Braun said he believes crews will be able to complete the needed dike repairs before the first serious rain arrives on Tuesday, but he remained hopeful the system would either pass north of the city or that the precipitation would spread out over several days.
“The Nooksack is still flowing across the border, and if there’s 100 millimetres of rain, if it comes in 24 hours, that’s a problem,” Braun said.
He said city staff had inspected 19 bridges and 62 kilometres of roads, but continued to urge people to stay away from the evacuation zone.
He praised the efforts of crews working around the clock to protect the city, and said he was overwhelmed by offers of support from around B.C. and the country.
Anyone who wishes to help, he said, can visit the City of Abbotsford’s website.
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