Chilliwack, B.C., cleaning up after perfect storm caused floods, mudslides
Published Sunday January 11th, 2009
CHILLIWACK, B.C. - People in a small B.C. city where a perfect storm of heavy snow and torrential rain caused flooding and mudslides were busy cleaning up Sunday as water levels continued to fall.
However, more than 50 homes in Chilliwack were still flooded and remained evacuated as residents waited to return to survey the damage.
Chilliwack and surrounding areas have been under a state of emergency since last Thursday.
Light rain over the weekend allowed water levels to recede further, and two community meetings were planned Monday to let residents know about government disaster assistance.
"The ones who are starting to get dry right now, they've been working on it since the day it started," said Mayor Sharon Gaetz.
"So now it starts. I saw people today picking up the squeegees and the bleach, and now will be the trying time."
The city opened up free access to its landfill for residents who were busy cleaning up.
Gaetz predicts it will be at least a month before some people will be able to live in their damaged homes again.
Most roads in the hardest-hit parts of the city were open on Sunday, although some were still covered in mud and water. A weekend slide that covered a road on the edge of town caused more than $1 million in damage.
While the Fraser Valley is no stranger to flooding, Allan Chapman, head of the province's River Forecast Centre, said the combination of last month's near-record snowfall quickly followed by heavy rain was extraordinary.
"It was an extremely rare event," said Chapman.
"Best guess, you might see (it) once in 100 years - it's that kind of rarity."
Flooding caused by melting snow and rain is a recurring problem along the Fraser River and particularly in Chilliwack, a city of about 80,000 people.
In June of last year, perilously high river levels put several hundred homes in the area on evacuation alert.
About 200 homes in Chilliwack were evacuated in Nov. 2006 when floods damaged homes and knocked out power.
But Chapman said this year was unique.
"We get these big storms every couple of years, but that storm occurred when we had anywhere between half a metre and a metre of snow on the ground," said Chapman.
"It was more than just a big period of rain, it was more than the snow - it was the combination of the two."
Another problem in the area, where farmland stretches out from the edges of the city, has been farm animals caught in the flood waters.
More than 2,000 chickens from at least four farms were killed, said Gaetz, as well as larger livestock such as cows and goats.
John Hofstede was able to get his 15 horses out of harm's way, moving them to a local park as the water moved in.
Hofstede, 39, said the flood water came within a few centimetres of his house.
"It was bad enough that we had to take out our animals, and we didn't have access to our property for a bit," he said.
Hofstede was taking the flooding in stride, enlisting the help of some friends to clean up his flooded barn.
"We're just enjoying a giant lakefront property right now," he said.
"We've got a whole crew here today, everybody's helping out."
The farmhouse that Kim Bartlette rents was also spared, and she said her landlord opened up his property to local farmers looking to keep their animals safe.
"My landlord's farm became a little bit of a Noah's ark, people bringing their animals in," said Bartlette, 43.
"I'm seeing a lot of the community pulling together, which is really wonderful."
Still, Bartlette said the flooding has been hard on the city.
"It's awful, driving by my neighbours while they're standing there with tears running down their faces," she said.
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