The mayor of Abbotsford, B.C. has issued an urgent plea for all residents of the low-lying Sumas Prairie area to abandon their livestock and flee their properties immediately.
Mayor Henry Braun says officials expect a pump station is about to fail.
“Our engineering department is telling us that if those pumps fail, or if even one fails — there’s four of them — there’s going to be more water coming into Sumas Prairie than those pumps are capable of pumping,” Braun says at a press conference Tuesday evening.
The area used to be a lake, and that means even more disaster is possible if the pumps fail.
“Even at four pumps running full bore the water has continued to rise. If those pumps go down — and that’s an if, we don't know that — but if they do, that lake is going to fill up. There's nowhere for that water to go so people will be incredibly surprised how quickly the situation will develop,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president of B.C.'s Chamber of Commerce says highway and railway closures caused by the severe storms will have a significant and lasting impact on the provincial economy.
Fiona Famulak says industries across the supply chain will be affected and is calling on all levels of government to act with urgency to allocate the resources needed to replace the lost infrastructure.
All of the major highways between B.C.'s Lower Mainland and the Interior were damaged by the "atmospheric river" of rain that inundated the province between Saturday and Monday.
Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says his first priority is getting the roadways reopened.
CP and CN rail lines were also damaged, but both companies say they could be back in operation within a few days.
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With files from The Canadian Press
Sun, Apr 28, 3:00 PM
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