Even Noah would have been shocked at the rate that floodwaters rose in British Columbia. The Southern Interior and Island have been assaulted by climatic events few have seen in their lifetimes, and infrastructure has been washed away into the steep gorges it traverses. A state of emergency has been declared, but I remain doubtful help will arrive in a timely fashion..The Most Beautiful Place on Earth has been beset by disasters of biblical proportions for almost two years straight. Beginning with civil unrest around the pipeline, followed by COVID-19 lockdowns, an NDP majority, and then wildfires, the Dogwood province was looking pretty dog tired. Now the floodwaters have come, though too late to put out last summer’s infernos..Floods are not new to British Columbia. Even in my part of the province, which is in the midst of the Cordillera’s plateau, dykes have been constructed, and old timers tell stories of having to evacuate what was then called “the cache” and are now the rail yards. Damming the Nechako essentially solved this problem, and building codes put a premium on our riverfront property..While damming the Fraser River would be a futile exercise, it is now obvious that adequate dykes were not constructed nor enough pumps purchased for what is an entirely foreseeable catastrophe. Building on the flood plain of the largest river in BC could have been well managed if the proper precautions were taken, but clearly that money was spent elsewhere..The designated emergency crews trained for these crises are overwhelmed, understaffed, and hamstrung by political interference. The median strip of Highway 1 in Chilliwack and Sumas, BC, is now a canal for boats to navigate the flooded area, while people either make their way to the islands created by overpasses, or remain stranded in their homes waiting for rescue teams..Farmers chose to stay in order to give their livestock a fighting chance. Admittedly, it’s a little late to construct an agrarian Ark, but as a fellow farmer, I will confess I would attempt anything to save the family holding as well. The last thing I would do is come quietly with any authority figure trying to force me out of my home — go help someone else, I’d shout..As for problems further upstream, there’s no denying the road through the Fraser Canyon is little more than an updated wagon trail dating back to the Cariboo Gold Rush. Mountains along the winding Fraser were blasted and cut to accommodate the widening of the road, making serious landslides inevitable..It doesn’t help the Fraser Canyon and much of our Southern Interior resembles a dry desert while lately enduring the climate of the Amazon rain forest. Without leaf-bearing trees to both retain topsoil as well as soak up more precipitation, flood water levels are achieved at unimaginable speeds, as well as the mud and rock slides that accompany these weather events..Of course British Columbians will come together as we always do — I’ll be the first to declare just how resilient we can be as a populace. But hard questions need to be put to those who call themselves leaders and experts. Clearly, the worst case scenario was not what our most vital infrastructure was built for, and we cannot let them rebuild all of it to such poor standards..The rising water revealed more than just the cracks in our badly planned and poorly protected assets. It has proven the ineptness of our political class as well as the delicate nature of our supply chain. I cannot drive to either the Island or lower mainland except via Rupert to the North of Vancouver Island, or by crossing the border into America and driving Westward..A point regarding sovereignty: British Columbia is logistically divided right at this moment between the regions that face South and those that face East for resupply. Those who need the border and the port of Vancouver are in a crisis. Those of us who only need the Hwy. 16 corridor are a little short stocked, but in no danger. Why do our provincial lines not match this reality?.It would be nice to suppose lessons will be learned. But if the 21st Century has taught us anything so far — from Katrina to Covid-19 — all the kings men can’t put society together again. Our only hope is in preparing for the next calamity and building stronger connections with those who live around us. When you read that in the right voice, it’s actually not as bleak as it looks.
Even Noah would have been shocked at the rate that floodwaters rose in British Columbia. The Southern Interior and Island have been assaulted by climatic events few have seen in their lifetimes, and infrastructure has been washed away into the steep gorges it traverses. A state of emergency has been declared, but I remain doubtful help will arrive in a timely fashion..The Most Beautiful Place on Earth has been beset by disasters of biblical proportions for almost two years straight. Beginning with civil unrest around the pipeline, followed by COVID-19 lockdowns, an NDP majority, and then wildfires, the Dogwood province was looking pretty dog tired. Now the floodwaters have come, though too late to put out last summer’s infernos..Floods are not new to British Columbia. Even in my part of the province, which is in the midst of the Cordillera’s plateau, dykes have been constructed, and old timers tell stories of having to evacuate what was then called “the cache” and are now the rail yards. Damming the Nechako essentially solved this problem, and building codes put a premium on our riverfront property..While damming the Fraser River would be a futile exercise, it is now obvious that adequate dykes were not constructed nor enough pumps purchased for what is an entirely foreseeable catastrophe. Building on the flood plain of the largest river in BC could have been well managed if the proper precautions were taken, but clearly that money was spent elsewhere..The designated emergency crews trained for these crises are overwhelmed, understaffed, and hamstrung by political interference. The median strip of Highway 1 in Chilliwack and Sumas, BC, is now a canal for boats to navigate the flooded area, while people either make their way to the islands created by overpasses, or remain stranded in their homes waiting for rescue teams..Farmers chose to stay in order to give their livestock a fighting chance. Admittedly, it’s a little late to construct an agrarian Ark, but as a fellow farmer, I will confess I would attempt anything to save the family holding as well. The last thing I would do is come quietly with any authority figure trying to force me out of my home — go help someone else, I’d shout..As for problems further upstream, there’s no denying the road through the Fraser Canyon is little more than an updated wagon trail dating back to the Cariboo Gold Rush. Mountains along the winding Fraser were blasted and cut to accommodate the widening of the road, making serious landslides inevitable..It doesn’t help the Fraser Canyon and much of our Southern Interior resembles a dry desert while lately enduring the climate of the Amazon rain forest. Without leaf-bearing trees to both retain topsoil as well as soak up more precipitation, flood water levels are achieved at unimaginable speeds, as well as the mud and rock slides that accompany these weather events..Of course British Columbians will come together as we always do — I’ll be the first to declare just how resilient we can be as a populace. But hard questions need to be put to those who call themselves leaders and experts. Clearly, the worst case scenario was not what our most vital infrastructure was built for, and we cannot let them rebuild all of it to such poor standards..The rising water revealed more than just the cracks in our badly planned and poorly protected assets. It has proven the ineptness of our political class as well as the delicate nature of our supply chain. I cannot drive to either the Island or lower mainland except via Rupert to the North of Vancouver Island, or by crossing the border into America and driving Westward..A point regarding sovereignty: British Columbia is logistically divided right at this moment between the regions that face South and those that face East for resupply. Those who need the border and the port of Vancouver are in a crisis. Those of us who only need the Hwy. 16 corridor are a little short stocked, but in no danger. Why do our provincial lines not match this reality?.It would be nice to suppose lessons will be learned. But if the 21st Century has taught us anything so far — from Katrina to Covid-19 — all the kings men can’t put society together again. Our only hope is in preparing for the next calamity and building stronger connections with those who live around us. When you read that in the right voice, it’s actually not as bleak as it looks.
