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Tyler Olsen Profile picture
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15 Nov, 15 tweets, 5 min read
New day, new thread. And the Nooksack will soon be in "major flood" territory, if it is not already, which has big implications for the Fraser Valley.
This morning, we'll be updating this story, with the highway latest, power outages, evacuations, etc.: fvcurrent.com
Schools closed: Chilliwack, Mission.
Open: Abbotsford, Langley
Pro-D days in Fraser-Cascade
I botched the link to our ongoing story above. Here's the good one:
fvcurrent.com/article/fraser…
.@gracekenn asked Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth about the Nooksack River and whether the public was duly notified about the upcoming flood, as residents in Sumas, Wash., were. He said, basically, that's on municipalities, not the province.
Concise thread on responses from Farnworth in press conference:
🚨 Abbotsford has declared a State of Local Emergency and issued a new evacuation order for five homes in the Straiton area on Sumas Mountain.
Chilliwack says rainfall exceeds a 1-in-100-year event. "Residents experiencing flooding in basements should take appropriate measures to protect their homes with sump pumps and/or sandbags."
Heard last night (not from the city) that sandbags available at Townsend Park.
Chilliwack Facebook post: facebook.com/Chilliwack/pos…
Website: chilliwack.com/main/page.cfm?…
#bcstorm
Periodic reminder that Highway 1 between Chilliwack and Abbotsford could be closed by flooding sometime within the next 24 hours and those commuting between the two cities should be aware of that potential.
#BCStorm
Sumas residents told they'll soon be losing power
Also, the mayor is directly posting on the city's Facebook page, including his number, and recruiting people with boats. facebook.com/sumascityhall/…

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More from @ty_olsen

Tyler Olsen Profile picture
16 Nov
🚨 BREAKING: This worst-case scenario is starting to become reality. Water is pouring over a large dike separating the bulk of lands currently flooded from the former bed of Sumas Lake. Highway will likely be closed for days.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun told me that he had never seen so much water, that it is continuing to flow from the Nooksack, and that there remains a steady stream coming over the border into Abbotsford. It's all very, very bad.
Story coming shortly at fvcurrent.com
And please subscribe to the @currentfv newsletter for an in-depth story tomorrow explaining how the Nooksack and the legacy of the draining of Sumas Lake are combining to create this disaster.
Read 4 tweets
Tyler Olsen Profile picture
16 Nov
New day, new thread and, wellllllp
Not one news story (aside from ours, link below) right now, mentions Sumas Lake. Which is a problem given the crucial role it is playing in the flooding. We'll be spending our day on on the lake that was (and may be again).
fvcurrent.com/article/fraser…
google.com/search?q=%22su…
The problem, again, is that all this Nooksack River water wants to flow downhill. And downhill isn't necessarily toward the Fraser but toward the old lake bed of Sumas Lake. Which used to look like this: Image
Read 43 tweets
Tyler Olsen Profile picture
15 Nov
1. Side thread: With the Nooksack in "major flood" stage and its water heading north of the border (hence the evac alerts), worth considering what that can mean. Luckily we have a report from last year spelling out just what a Nooksack flood can look like.
2. Study looked at a variety of scenarios. Unclear right now which one we are looking at. We haven't yet seen Highway 1 closed, as happened in 1990, but that seems verrrrrrry possible.
3. One potential consequence: Flooding of many farm parcels with sewage lagoons.
Read 8 tweets
Tyler Olsen Profile picture
15 Nov
Alright. Signing off with this. I've done quite a bit of
informing-the-public work today. Also did some parenting & played a hockey game. Maybe did a half day of work? Worth considering when looking at how our public institutions have informed the public.
Not quite off. One other thing: Clearly climate change increases the likelihood of these things. But if I hear one more politician cite these disasters as reasons we need to address climate change while at the same time not planning for disasters *now,* so help me...
And planning doesn't mean "funding some plan for some initiative for some action." Funding means ensuring your office knows how to address an emergency if it were to occur tomorrow. Like actually talking about how to get the word out about an impending flood.
Read 4 tweets
Tyler Olsen Profile picture
14 Nov
This U.S. river should be what everyone in the Lower Mainland is watching. When the Nooksack floods, it frequently runs north into Canada and Abbotsford. It has the potential to shut down Highway 1 between Chilliwack & Abbotsford and refill Sumas Lake.
abbynews.com/news/the-frase…
This is a long-standing issue (the quote below is from 2016), but while there was a whole task force on the Nooksack to look at cross-border flooding, it didn't meet once between 2012 and 2019. Anyways, worth keeping an eye on that gauge.
abbynews.com/news/nooksack-… Image
The City of Abbotsford, at least, has been doing work on this. Last year it produced this report. Part of the goal was to show senior levels of government of the need to prevent a future flood.
abbotsford.ca/sites/default/…
Read 40 tweets
Tyler Olsen Profile picture
6 Aug
The good thing is that cases are only going up in the Central Okanagan so if we control the spread there and stay away, the mission will once again be accomplished.
Dammit. That was the Fraser Health graph. Let's try that again.
Whoops. That was the Vancouver Island graph. Here:
Read 5 tweets

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