Abbotsford – 7:30 AM NOVEMBER 17 UPDATE – The Barrowtown Pump Station is holding its own… barely. In the morning briefing, Mayor Henry Braun says the pump station is handling a half million gallons of water per minute. The extra flood water is coming from the American side of the flooding with the Nooksack River. Chilliwack and Abbotsford crews have put together a sandbag system which is holding its own. A homemade dam is helping the cause.
Braun said “this pump station was never designed to handle water from another country”.
The Fraser River has dropped two metres. The weather is helping and another drop of another metre will assist the Barrowtown Pump System to alleviate some pressure. Flood gates connected to the Fraser could be opened should the water drop continues.
There are no major weather events on the horizon although a full moon will impact the water.
From FVRD Chair Jason Lum:
Situation report:Barrowtown is currently still running at full capacity. Our City of Chilliwack crews and contractors supported major response efforts throughout the night. Thank you to the amazing volunteer contingent largely from Chilliwack who answered the call to sandbag in the cold. At one point there were so many good folks from our City trying to respond it threatened to overwhelm the situation! Careful what you ask for when you call for help from the caring people here in Chilliwack. I’m proud of all of you, and my family and I thank you for helping keep our home dry. Most of you know we are one of the many homes evacuated in Yarrow, and I spent a long sleepless night worrying just like many of you. We’re not out of the woods yet. I will continue to update with the best information that I have, as I receive it. Stay positive.
From AbbyPD:
The Emergency Operations Center is asking the public to NOT attend the Barrowtown pump station in the attempt to assist emergency crews. Crews on site are seeing the public arrive in this area which is hampering emergency operations currently underway.
NOVEMBER 16 STORY -The City of Abbotsford is issuing an immediate & urgent notice to all residents that did not yet evacuate Sumas Prairie to evacuate immediately.
That affects 200 properties with 300 residents.
Conditions within Sumas Prairie since 7 PM Tuesday night have escalated and pose a significant risk to life. Barrowtown Pump Station is failing. There are four pumps in the station however, Mayor Henry Braun said in his 9 PM Tuesday address that just one pump failure will bring the Sumas Lake back. The Mayor has had conversations with the PMO in Ottawa and the Provincial Safety Minister.
RT A history lesson from Bob Kronbauer@BobKronbauer – For those who don’t know, the flooding in Abbotsford is happening where a lake once was, up until the 1920s when they drained it. A pump station failure is now imminent and the lake is apparently filling up again. This is very, very bad.
