From fires to floods
 

What a year BC has had, fires to floods, fingers crossed we don't get a wild arctic burst this winter with ice storms.

Merritt is flooded, mudsldies, highway closures, its a mess.

CBC reporting the following still closed with no indication of when they might reopen.

In the 17 years that I have lived in BC, this might just be the worst flooding I have ever seen.

We had a little pond on our patio, but thankfully they got someone out today to clear the drain, and nothing got inside, renters insurance doesn't cover flooding unless it comes out of the toilet or sinks as sewage.

• Highway 1 between Agassiz and Spences Bridge.
• Highway 1 east of Golden.
• Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt.
• Highway 7 between Maple Ridge and Hope.
• Highway 11 between Mission and Abbotsford.
• Highway 3, which is closed in both directions due to a mudslide at Sunshine Valley, about 17 kilometres east of Hope.
• Highway 3 north of Fernie.
• Highway 99 south of Lillooet.

Merrit's waster water treatment plant has failed and residents are asked not to use water.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...fa4e0476fd.jpg
Flooding in Abbotsford.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...ea0fe6509c.jpg
Flooding in Merritt.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...1e6fab68bb.jpg
Abbotsford.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Coquihalla might be closed for a bit, damage looks fairly substaintial.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...4d82d907f9.jpg

Re: From fires to floods
 

The sooner I get off this planet and start fresh on Mars, the better.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Wont need to worry about flood on Mars.

The Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are now completely cut off from the rest of British Columbia and the country by road.

The Coq another closer photo of the damage near Othello Tunnels.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...39b5cc34e8.jpg


Barge washed up/maybe still floating, unsure, video on Twitter. (looks like its stationary now, phew could have possibly taken out a bridge.)


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...95e828c560.jpg

Re: From fires to floods
 

Merritt residents are advised to go to Kelowna or Kamloops, even addresses to Kelowna and Odd addresses to Kamloops, the city isn't habitable at this time, and wastewater treatment plant will be inoperable for an unknown period of time.

Evacuee reception centers have been set up in both Kamloop's and Kelowna, evacuees can register online ess.gov.bc.ca as well if they have internet connection Bell/Telus/Rogers have various outages across the province as well.

• Kamloops ESS Reception Centre is located at McArthur Island (1655 Island Parkway). Directions: Proceed North on Highway 5.
• Kelowna ESS Reception Centre is located at 1480 Sutherland Avenue. Directions: Take highway 97C East to Kelowna.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Often forget about trains, but they too are affected.

CN and CP Rail both say trains between the southern Interior and the coast are not running due to some of their tracks through the Fraser Canyon being washed away.

How significant the rail damage is not currently known, the area is too unstable to begin work, and no timeline when trains may run again.

https://www.radionl.com/2021/11/15/c...-to-mudslides/

Photo hwy 1 north of Lytton

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...f1ecd5f155.png

Re: From fires to floods
 

VIA's The Canadian #2 left Vancouver at 3:00 pm today, it arrived on time in North Bend on time at 7:46, pm, and is now en route for Ashcroft where it is expected to arrive 2 minutes early.

North Bend is across the Fraser River from Boston Bar, half way between Yale and Lytton.

So it looks as if the CP tracks have no problem, as all eastbound trains use those tracks on the east side of the Fraser River.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Just going by what CP and CN have said, below is release from CP.

CP Rail says it is “experiencing a track outage” north of Hope, which has forced its trains to stop running. It says there’s no estimate for when its trains will be back in service.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Parts of YVR ramp and taxiways flooded as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/c...theres_a_lake/

Burrard St bridge has been closed by the city for precaution in the event the barge becomes free and starts to move again.

Up near Boston Bar somewhere.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...86d50f66d0.jpg

Re: From fires to floods
 

I took my information on VIA from their Track Your Train in real time.

I've never found that to be a lie, and it definitely states The Canadian Train 2 went through North Bend on time , North Bend is on the western side (sorry got that wrong before) side of the Fraser, and those are the CP tracks. Otherwise it would have gone through Boston Bar which is on the eastern side, and the CN racks.

In the Fraser Canyon all trains going east travel on the CP tracks, and all trains coming west travel on CN tracks.

Nary a mention from VIA about taking different tracks. It even went by Agassiz!

Otherwise it would have gone through Boston bar which is on the western side

I admit I may be proved wrong tomorrow, but the train is due in Kamloops around 10 or 11 pm

Re: From fires to floods
 

I wonder if shutting down the supply of oil to the west coast will push gas prices up? Everything else does, so I'm going to say probably. Better to stop the flow now in case it breaks, creating simultaneous disasters.
"The 1,500-km Trans Mountain pipeline is Canada’s only pipeline system carrying oil from Alberta to the West Coast. The pipeline has a capacity for 300,000 barrels per day."
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/c...m_source=share

Re: From fires to floods
 

Gas companies will never miss an opportunity to raises prices, and I suspect prices will rise, how high will depend I guess on how long its shut down for and how much supply the refineries have on hand. Looking at gas buddy for Vancouver compared to Sunday when I checked, looks like current prices are about 10 cents higher.

Have to wait and see how long the highways stay closed for other goods.

Current Highway closures from drive bc map, all listed as no ETA for opening. (there are more elsewhere as well, I just did the eastern southern parts in the screen shot, BC is too big for one screen shot...


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...ec69caa249.png


Westjet & Air Canada wasting no time jacking fares up out of Kelowna.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...93b41b8a4b.png

Re: From fires to floods
 

I'm pretty happy with this new route

https://www.thebeaverton.com/2021/11...e-to-kamloops/

Re: From fires to floods
 

Jsmith ............. I apologise.

The Track Your Train on the VIA Rail site that I used yesterday to check on Train 2 (The Canadian) and that seemed to be so active and accurate, as it was updating the information every 2 or 3 minutes as usual, must have been following a phantom train :nod: :rofl:

Train 2 for Toronto did not leave Vancouver yesterday.

Train 1 from Toronto will end its journey at Winnipeg today because that is the major crew change station, and I've heard that passengers will be bussed from there to Vancouver .......... but as all major (and minor) roads into the Lower Mainland from the east are blocked, who knows? We're completely cut off at the moment

Train 2 will "resume" its trip to Toronto from Winnipeg on Wednesday on schedule. No word on what happens with the passengers that were supposed to leave yesterday. They will probably be offered travel on next week's train and put up in Vancouver at VIA's expense if so, or given a refund if they don't.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Not sure how anyone can deny climate change at this point.

Re: From fires to floods
 

That's what "they" want you to think. The plan is working. :sneaky:

Re: From fires to floods
 

global warming my arse, I was bloody freezing this morning :o

Re: From fires to floods
 

They found one woman dead so far, and there are a couple more people who haven't answered roll call yet. Hopefully the count won't get much higher.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...eath-1.6251323

Re: From fires to floods
 

I get that this area was a flood plain and humans modified it to farm land, but holy having never seen Abbotsford this way, its startling, we may need to reconsider having farms and people in natural flood plains and a lake in the past that was drained and rivers diverted, seems nature wants to claim this land back. I had forgotten that some of that area was literally a lake not all that long ago either.

"After the devastating 1894 Fraser basin flood, and in order to create more fertile farmland for settlers, BC Electric engineer Fred Sinclair formed a plan to drain the lake in the early 1920s. By 1924 the Chilliwack River had been diverted west into the newly formed Vedder Canal. The lake was then drained through the Sumas Drainage Canal and into the Fraser River around the northeastern tip of the Sumas Mountain. This process effectively turned Sumas Lake into the Sumas Prairie. Having been sold off to settlers in the 1930s for $60-120 an acre, the former lakebed has since been transformed into agricultural, residential and commercial zones." -Wikipedia on Sumas Lake



https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...56f9f6d96b.jpg


If you know Abbotsford at all you will know where the area below is.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...c3aef12056.jpg



I am actually impressed the signs are still working in such a flood, watch out though slow traffic ahead.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...12e8c2258.jpeg

Re: From fires to floods
 

Complex oxygen reliant life forms will mostly be gone in 1 billion years as earth is slowly losing our oxygen rich atmosphere naturally and oxygen levels will drop too low in about 1 billion years to sustain complex life, but humans likely wont be around in 1 billion years to worry about that.

Re: From fires to floods
 

I do wish we could do some food shopping, looking like tomorrow there might be slim pickings.

Kelowna area grocery store. (looks like Super Store)

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...9af1d620d8.jpg

Re: From fires to floods
 

Coquihalla Highway has no time frame for opening, Mike Farnworth Deputy Premier saying this morning several weeks to months due to significant damage.

Anyone with highway building experienc or knowledge know the difficulty of roadwork in the winter? Seems there are more hurdles to winter work vs summer work?

The music is obnoxious so I reccomend turning the volume off, aerial footage of the Coq in various spots.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Fewer hours of daylight, temperatures too low for paving, there must be more disadvantages vs summer. Just getting a gravel detour so one lane of cars can get around each place is going to be a challenge. . Depending on how much track is washed out the railroad could be a long time coming back as well.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Are those cabbages?

Re: From fires to floods
 

Hopefully the government has some level of backup plan if the highways are closed for a couple weeks or more, will find out the state of the grocery situation tomorrow morning.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Possibly, the purple is for sure, can't tell if the other ones are cabbage or not presumably they are. Maybe its cauliflower in the plastic.

Chilliwack reddit group people reporting 1+ hour waits to pay at grocery stores and long lines to enter. eggs, milk, produce being reported as mostly gone, and currently no way to get goods to Chilliwack.

Re: From fires to floods
 

According to City Tv News: CBSA tells CityNews that there will be exceptions at the border for COVID testing and quarantine for Canadians who need to cross into the US, and return to Canada, to get to their homes.

Re: From fires to floods
 

If they have to get food and water into communities that are cut off they could use the Cormorant helicopters they used to rescue motoristo, and maybe the helicopters that fight fires could be used to deliver supplies as well. As for how long before the Okanagan feels an impact from no freight or slow freight from Vancouver routed through Washington, it's hard to say. Sobey's and Loblaws have more to say about that than the government. Stuff like milk and eggs that come from the LM aren't going to be coming for awhile. I know some people who work in the Safeway shipping department and will ask if I see them.

Re: From fires to floods
 

I was thinking more about Chilliwack which is currently cut off from everything by land, and no indication when Highway 1 might be able to reopen and not so much about the interior which has some alternatives but may take a few days to a week as the companies scramble to bring in goods from Alberta and east.

Mid-term I am not too worried about the interior, short term I am just because we haven't been able to grocery shop since last disability almost a month ago, so we have run very thin on the food supply at home, but have to wait until tomorrow to do anything since disability is tomorrow, otherwise I would have gone grocery shopping Sunday.

Re: From fires to floods
 

I was forced to buy organic milk tonight as all the regular milk was sold out. Wish me luck with my tea tomorrow.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Post a photo next week of the alfalfa growing out your nose :lol:

Re: From fires to floods
 

Wait until there is no milk...

I am hoping there will be at least regular eggs in stock, I can do a lot with eggs so fingers crossed.

Re: From fires to floods
 

OMG! My Mum said that used to happen during the war.

Re: From fires to floods
 

:lol:

My mum said there were no eggs. She used baking soda and vinegar to make cakes.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Could BC handle natural disaster better?

CBC article.

Chilliwack Super Store sometime today.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...01235a012b.png

Re: From fires to floods
 

I have lost count the number of similar pics I have seen over the last 20 months, in Canada, the UK, US and goodness knows how many other countries. It is mostly scare mongering. We can get by very well, even if we have to go without a few things. :rolleyes:

Re: From fires to floods
 

Looking like a lot of animals may have perished on the farms.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Like food?

Try to understand what Chilliwack is going through, they are fully cut off from everything, no way in and no way out, with no known time the highways will be open again.

Not remotely the same to pandemic buying at all.

Check your privelage and have some sympathy for a city of 100k people cut off from the world right now.

Some of these people have lost everything.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Yes food. Why isn’t it the same…Stores with empty shelves after empty shelves? People get by. It’s what we do to survive. Ok so there is no fresh veg or meat…eat something else for a few days. It’s not like the shortage is going to last…unless of course there is panic buying because of the pics posted on the internet.

Edit: I see you have edited your post…

Excuse me…’Check your privilege and have some sympathy’. Whoa…You have no idea what I give or what I do for people who have nothing.

Re: From fires to floods
 

Flooding, fires and other disasters due to climate change are not what I want to keep dealing with indefinitely. We have to change course.