Abbotsford – A boil water advisory remains for the Sumas Lake Bottom and for just a few homes and farms, the last of the evacuation orders have been lifted. That being for the Sumas Lake Bottom.
Mayor Henry Braun openly feared that when the next natural disaster happens in Canada, that Abbotsford wold be forgotten. All eyes are also on the Matsqui Dikes and hopes for federal monies for upgrades to that system along the Fraser River.
(All dikes were taxed by the 1990 flood and the Nooksack River spilled its banks).
“We have at least two years of serious hard work ahead”.
A shout out was made to volunteers and staff from the City of Chilliwack as well as the resources that came in from the City of Vancouver.
The plea went out to the Province and Federal government went out for serious money to upgrade all dykes. Braun quoted a recent study on the Nooksack that fears a hard right right turn near Everson, Washington and carve a new path into the Sumas Lake Bottom. That would take out the remaining farms, Highway 1, Transmission lines and the TMX Pipeline.
The City is contacting owners on a case by case basis.
The December 10 media briefing is here (Bruan noted that this would be the last of the live media briefings):
