An Abbotsford teen is being lauded for her efforts to document the impact of 2021’s catastrophic flooding on children and youth in the community.
Anna Konrad initially started the Kids Talk About the Abbotsford Flood podcast as a school project, with the goal of raising awareness about the natural disaster and encouraging grown-ups to “listen to the voices of the kids and people who weren’t heard as much through retellings of the stories.”
“I wanted government officials to listen to that and keep it top of their mind,” the 14-year-old told Global News.
“It definitely makes me feel more confident because I realized I can do something about what I care about … this project was meant to show that, but I never actually thought it would go very far.”
Konrad was 12 years old when rushing water from the Sumas River overran the dikes in Abbotsford on Nov. 14 and 15, 2021, forcing thousands of people to evacuate, destroying countless homes, and killing thousands of local farm animals.
Konrad and her family fled to Chilliwack where they stayed for three days before moving in with grandparents for more than a month. Her cat had been stuck on the roof of their home, and while it was eventually retrieved, Konrad said she spent days thinking the cat was dead and she had “killed her.”
Konrad, and many other young people, were traumatized by the disaster in ways that haven’t been well-publicized, she added.
“It was really scary, also very shocking,” she said. “There’s times when I would make excuses when it rained to not go outside.”
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At the time, Konrad said she felt she had to be brave for her younger siblings. She would write down her feelings to avoid talking about it, because she often cried when she did.
Sharing through the podcast helped her feel more comfortable and has helped some of her peers — who were initially nervous — to process their feelings about what happened, she added.
Now, Konrad’s podcast is being heard and applauded by politicians at all levels of government.
Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said the 14-year-old has “really captured the heart and soul” of what people of all ages felt during the historic floods, and has forced people to consider the generational impacts of such disasters.
“Oftentimes, we focus on the parents and the people that are affected in their businesses that are affected, but it affects children,” Siemens said in an interview.
“Especially in today’s day in age with mental health issues, having kids talk bout this is really, really important because oftentimes we have not paid as much attention to our youth as we should have.”
Premier David Eby has taken notice too, and thanked her for using her voice in such an innovative way.
“Sometimes when we see these kinds of disasters at the government level, the focus is very much on, let’s get the highways back open, let’s deal with the physical damage,” he explained.
“But I think what Anna’s podcast does is remind us that while government addresses the physical damage and people rebuild, that those emotional scars sometimes last a long time and are especially significant for kids.”
Konrad’s efforts have even snagged the attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who wrote a letter to her to thank her for her flood prevention podcast and advocacy.
In addition to the podcast, the Abbotsford Christian School Grade 8 student had also sent letters to more than a dozen elected officials urging them to strengthen flood prevention and mitigation initiatives, collaborate with counterparts in the U.S. and improve disaster management.
“We are in a lot better spot than we were prior to the floods,” Siemens said.
“The dikes have been raised in key areas. There has been debris cleaned out in certain streams and ditches, so things are flowing. Culverts have been repaired.”
He and a federal government representative will also be in Washington state next month to discuss strategy with counties and municipalities at-risk of flooding, he added.
Konrad’s podcast, a five-part series, features interviews with children who were evacuated from their homes and others, such as University of Fraser Valley associate professor Michelle Superle.
Superle said she, too, had also noticed young people were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the floods. In the aftermath of the disaster — in the midst of talk about farms, infrastructure, and economic losses — she said she heard children talking about toys that left behind, and pets they had lost.
“I started to get the idea that we needed ways other than just the mainstream media for people to share these stories, their losses and what they’d learned,” Superle told Global News.
“Anna’s podcast is absolutely incredible.”
Konrad, meanwhile, is still urging politicians to keep “listening to stories of resilience,” maintaining an open dialogue, and supporting people through the trauma of a disaster she hopes never happens again.
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