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I'm surprised this hasn't come up yet. Vancouver and surrounding areas is being absolutely mullered, worst storm in a century.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59314791
A friend of mine lives there, she's in the middle of it. She told me:
[Tuesday] - "It's a total shitshow here right now. It rained so hard that Vancouver is cut off, by road, from the rest of Canada because there have been so many mudslides all the roads out are closed. Entire towns have been evacuated, my parking garage flooded, thankfully got my car out and snagged a visitor spot but was up past my ankles walking to it this morning. Thankfully our power has come back on at least."
[today (Wednesday)] - "My boyfriend is trapped, my parents are trapped, my friends home was destroyed and she was forced to evacuate... Things are not looking good here.
...
Vancouver is still cut off from the rest of Canada by land, and Chilliwack (where [my boyfriend] is, and where I lived up until [recently]) is isolated from the rest of Vancouver. They are out of petrol, and grocery stores are almost empty."
I asked if people were panic-buying.
"Yes, and nothing can get to us via land or rail so stocks aren't being replenished.
...
They can get in via the US and by sea. Also cargo planes bringing in goods. It's a shit show though, people are scared."
Been watching this via friends’ Facebook posts tonight. Looks awful.
i live in abbotsford, fortunately near the top of a hill. the highway is cut off and the farms around them are under water.
the farmland is in a drained lake (eek) and the pump that keeps the farmland is in danger of failing. if that happens, it’s good night, vienna.
i’m beginning to think (not for the first time since we moved) that we should have stayed in the yukon. far more pleasant weather!
Yeah was reading this today. Super tough days and weeks ahead for lots of people who are used to ‘normality’. Kinda emphasises the vulnerability of the road and rail system that it essentially follows a single line.
And yet the Canadian Govt and insurance industry don't think that flood in Canada is a big issue. Let's hope that changes soon to increase resilience across Canadian communities
Burning up in the summer, drowning in the winter. Not good.
GCaptain have a couple of articles outlining transport issues.
https://gcaptain.com/storm-of-the-century-stalls-canadas-biggest-port/
Sorry, ey.
The rest of my team is based near Vancouver. They're all ok, but there's people trapped without food. And helpfully now people have been panic buying gas and food on Vancouver island.
Wrong fred
Kinda emphasises the vulnerability of the road and rail system that it essentially follows a single line.
it does. and there is usually (possibly always) they follow a river. though to be fair it is quite hilly out of the valley
And helpfully now people have been panic buying gas and food on Vancouver island.
and where i am.
Slight correction to this.
Vancouver itself (the main metropolitan area) hasn't really been affected by mud slides, closed roads or broken trail links. Yes, it has rained an awful lot over the last few weeks but all the emergencies are somewhat further outside the main built up area.
Eg Abbotsford is about 70km east and other affected areas are much further away again.
All the areas affected so far are, relatively low populations compared to Vancouver and conurbation (collectively "Metro Vancouver")
Just wanted to nip-in-the-bud any idea that millions of people are affected.
Still, the devastation is real and there will need to be multiple major infrastructure repairs to roads, rails, utilities and water pumping & treatment. The Coquihalla highway, for instance, is the main road which connects Vancouver & Fraser Valley with the rest of BC and Canada has multiple major Bridges out and it's route is extremely inhospitable in winter (subject to regular closures due to snow/avalanche risk, even with a full time road crew on hand for maintenance).
I don't see that one road being reopened for at least another 12 months (I am not a geo-tech and road construction engineer though!). I suspect the railway lines will take even longer, though there is talk of rail freight is being diverted to Portland (500km away!)
Miraculously, there's only been one confirmed fatality (car caught in a landslide, I believe).
To add:
I live in North Vancouver (yes, the North Shore!) and we've lost power a couple of times due to wind-blown trees falling on power lines. All the local creeks were in spate and there's been some localized flooding but nothing to float cars down the road!
Weirdly (and worryingly) the housing development next door to mine has had flooded basements for no apparent reason (it's definitely not from overflowing creeks as I live nearer to the creek then they do and we are unaffected).
(I suspect the local trails may need some touch-ups but will survive, for anyone planning on riding the iconic NS mountains. Trails further out, I'm not so sure of so...will need to wait-and-see).
I’ve a friend in Mission who is luckily ok. She tried to get to Abbotsford yesterday as a dummy run for work today and the pics are crazy.
This from a comment on her FB page;
“ Sumas Prairie returns to being Sumas Lake:
According to a 2013 report written by City of Abbotsford staff seeking money to upgrade the electrical system in the Barrowtown facility (built between 1977-1983), if the station fails it will result in around $500M in damages and impact “major transportation and utility corridors such as Highway 11, 1, railways and underground gas/oil lines.”
“Major flooding in the area would significantly impact food producers and food processing companies, and cause job losses which typically takes 5-10 years to recover.” There are about 1,400 farms in the Sumas Prairie.”
Hard to comprehend.
I have relatives in Van (near the University) they've had really bad weather over the last few weeks, one of the family was even on the telly!, but they're OK,the worst seems to be in Abbotsford. Poor folks
Yeah but more importantly, is the hockey still on?
Yeah but more importantly, is the hockey still on?
It's been put on ice for now.
caught in a landslide
Guess there's just no escape from reality.
It’s been put on ice for now.
Good work there sir
It’s been put on ice for now.
Good work there sir
He shoots, he scores!!
caught in a landslide
Guess there’s just no escape from reality.
Argh! I had been humming that tune to myself without realising it, and then your post made me realise what it was. Bloody U2!
I’ll get grief for this but the more major cities get hit by climate change the more likely people will take notice when it starts to directly impact them.
Canada has one of the biggest carbon footprints in the world.
A big flooding event in London would probably do more for the climate than blocking the M25.
Are they able to be rescued by boot?
“caught in a landslide
Guess there’s just no escape from reality.
Argh! I had been humming that tune to myself without realising it, and then your post made me realise what it was. Bloody U2!“
I think it’s Queen, but there’s no escape from reality…
Bloody U2
Trying to remember the name of the band, but you still haven't found what you're looking for?
It's clearly been rattling around all day in his head while he hums the tune.
the more major cities get hit by climate change the more likely people will take notice
Agreed, Houston, London, Antwerp or Vancouver being flooded will get far more attention than 30 million people being flooded in Bangladesh
Or Hull, nobody cares about Hull
the highway from Mission heaved on sunday. not sure if it is opened yet, but there is a lot of flooding in that area, too.
something needs to be done. i get the impression that there are a lot of climate change deniers in canada. it is the only explanation for why people use 5 litre engined pickups for their family cars.
there will be a lot of upset people if such vehicles were banned, not least because it would be impossible to tow the huge caravans with a tesla.
a lot of canadians are also involved in resource extraction industries. this is a double whammy. it gives normal folk a real insight as to where things come from (basically, if you can’t grow it you have to dig it out the ground - or recycle it) and they rely on it for a living with no alternative jobs. the governments, federal and provincial, also need the money from these industries to run the country. though removal of oil subsidies would make green energy able to compete on price.
this is no defence of of the states quo, but from an “impact on your lifestyle” canadian would be impacted far greater than people in the UK from properly going green. another example is most families in my neighbourhood have 3 kids. try getting that lot in a fiesta for the annual cross-country road trip.
a lot of canadians are also involved in resource extraction industries
Interestingly, far more are employed in the green energy industry..that isn't even given all of its budgeted subsidies.
It's an odd one as BC continues to build its controversial mega dam that will flood an area almost equal to the Sumas prairie to provide power for a proposed fossil fuel industry that probably won't happen.
I'd think the premiers speech about the the flood response and considering the last 6 months of local environmental disasters would have been an excellent opportunity and justification to declare the start of the end of provincial fossil fuel subsidies.
But, I assume if you stop these contracted subsidies then the foreign entities that own these dinogiants will start law suits recovering their losses.
It's all a bit f**'ed really.
Seems simple to me to empower the rapid growth of the renewable energy industry with the fossil fuel subsidies money, and justify the rise in the cost of gas at the pumps and gas in the home with the reduction in cost of grid energy.
But that'll still hurt votes I guess
We were in a restaurant in Squamish last night. I don't eat meat but my mates do, and the staff there tend to know what we eat. So after the initial greeting, the first thing that the waitress said was "Sorry guys, there is no chicken today". Buddy asked why. "They all drowned".
The Fraser Valley is a huge producer of animals (including massive factory farms and mink farms....yay....). It hasn't been covered much, but it's safe to say that hundreds of thousands of animals and birds slowly drowned during this flooding too.
The area used to be a lake. But the settlers thought it would be a good idea to take the land that is under sea level and drain it, so it could be used for agriculture. In hindsight not the greatest move ever as nature has a habit of winning.
So after the initial greeting, the first thing that the waitress said was “Sorry guys, there is no chicken today”. Buddy asked why. “They all drowned”.
Did you get fish instead?...they should be plentiful! 😉
(Sorry, poor taste joke)
poor taste
Depends how it's done.
The mudslides, they weren’t in the regions hit by the wildfires earlier, were they? Because that’s the almost inevitable result of loss of forest, due either to massive natural burnoffs, or deliberate cutting and clearing, which is also happening in North America, (including Canada). Clearing centuries old temperate rainforests purely for profit is almost inevitably going to result in huge mudslides, because the network of roots, etc, that hold the slopes together have been destroyed.
I’m no ecological engineer, but even I know this! It’s happening all over Asia and South America as well, and it’s inexcusable and immoral.
My heart goes out to those being affected, it’s not dissimilar to the massive floods all across the Somerset Levels, which were the direct result of the arrogance of one man deliberately letting the rivers silt up, reversing a millennia of work carried out to create a vast area of farmland from salt marsh. Of course, he was employed by a government body, so that was ok… 🙄
The mudslides, they weren’t in the regions hit by the wildfires earlier, were they?
For sure one area that flooded was hit by a huge (natural) wildfire a few months ago. I was reading an article by a soil specialist who said the freshly burned soil sheds rather then absorbs water (on top of no ground vegetation which slows or absorbs water flow).
So, yes, the wildfires have made mud/land slides a lot more likely and a lot more substantial.
That joke was rotten (just like the Salmon around here 😉 ).
Holy smoke at these pumps mentioned in today’s Grauniad!
“ Much of the area lies on the former site of Sumas Lake, a vast body of water which was drained in the last century. Four pumps currently divert water from the basin at a rate of half a million gallons a minute, but city officials feared earlier this week they could fail, inundating the area with even more water.”