Fraser Valley cleans up, bracing for more

Although British Columbia is making significant progress dealing with flooding that shut down the province and devastated farmers, it remains in “uncharted territory” as it awaits the potential outcome of further predicted rainfall.

“Having several destructive storms in a row is not anywhere near normal,” said B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth on Nov. 24 as he warned of forecasts by Environment Canada for the coming week.

“We’ve had almost a dozen atmospheric rivers since mid-September. The ground is already saturated, which means that even a routine storm for this time of year can cause rivers and streams to rise faster and potentially flood.”

Record-setting rainfall that began Nov. 14 caused flooding that severed road and rail links, forcing B.C. to declare a state of emergency on Nov. 17. The Sumas Prairie area in the Fraser Valley near Abbotsford, which is the site of a former lake drained to create farmland in the 1920s, was particularly hard hit.

Although the Fraser Valley is the location of much of B.C.’s dairy, poultry and egg sectors, everyone from blueberry producers and flower growers to fish farmers were also affected. Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun has said the damage in his community alone is likely to total $1 billion.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said Nov. 25 her ministry will be temporarily refraining from releasing the death toll of farm animals killed by the disaster.

“Each time we update those numbers, it turns out to be another traumatic moment for our livestock producers, and to tell you the truth, they don’t really want to go there right now. They’re still in the emergency and dealing with these events.”

About 50,600 acres of B.C. farmland were affected by flooding, with about 35,000 acres of that designated as agricultural land reserve. Popham has said 959 farmers were under evacuation order as of Nov. 19, with 164 under evacuation alert.

She said Nov. 24 that “thousands of poultry and I think 20,000 hogs” had died. However, she added that assessments were still being conducted.

Farmers in sectors ranging from dairy to poultry “lost just about everything” within a matter of hours, including their personal belongings in their houses, said Jack Dewitt, president of the B.C. Pork Producers Association. The disaster affected one hog producer who had three barns, he added.

Producers are faced with the daunting task of cleaning up the resulting mess created by receding floodwater contaminated with everything from fuel and manure to animal carcasses, he said.

“It’s going to be gut wrenching for a lot of people. There’ll be visual images that they will never forget.”

A tentative estimate Nov. 26 of the losses faced by poultry producers was more than 100,000 meat birds, said Ray Nickel, director of the B.C. Chicken Marketing Board. “We know that it will be a fair number higher than that.”

However, he expected it will be less than the losses experienced during the record-breaking heat dome that hit B.C. in the summer, when producers lost more than 400,000 meat birds.

Although farmers were continuing to deal with flooding, several producers have been able to get through the disposal, cleaning and disinfection process, he said.

“And actually as of (Nov. 26), we have a farm placing birds today, so that’s a pretty amazing piece of work considering what that looked like over there.”

As part of a preliminary estimate, the B.C. Dairy Association said Nov. 23 that 500 cattle had been lost, with about 6,000 evacuated to other farms in the Abbotsford, Agassiz and Chilliwack areas. “Sixty-two farms in the Abbotsford and Yarrow areas were under evacuation orders at the peak last week.”

The lack of passable roads left farmers in many sectors unable to transport their products, with dairy producers forced to dump their milk. However, about 80 percent of the milk in B.C. was being shipped for processing as of Nov. 23, “which is sufficient to meet the province’s immediate need for fluid milk.”

Popham said Nov. 25 that flooding had affected 57 blueberry producers totalling about 2,100 acres, along with 82 acres of raspberries.

“Both of these types of commodities will need to be ripped out and replanted. Many of them are still underwater.”

About 420 acres of field crops were also lost, including things such as cabbages, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots and leeks, she added.

“This is 4,000 tons of stored and unharvested field vegetables that are most likely damaged and lost. Most of these were on the Sumas Prairie or in Fort Langley.”

Meanwhile, two major flower growers remained under several feet of water as of Nov. 25.

“This is about 250,000 plants that are lost in nurseries. About 100 percent of bulb growers in the Sumas Flats have been impacted.”

Two land-based fish farms in the Fraser Valley were also affected, said Popham.

“The losses haven’t been entered yet, but we believe that all fish are presumed lost.… We also have unfortunately a commercial Chinook hatchery on Vancouver Island that also has been damaged due to the flood.”