[Strutz]

xerxes xerxes:

The yellow circle is Castle Fun Park, a local amusement park. And I’m fine. I live in west Abby which is north of that picture. And that part is at a higher elevation. Pretty much all the low lying areas which are farmland are flooded. All of the farmland between Abbotsford and Chilliwack are under an evacuation order.

Ok. Now I can place it as I've been by there many a time while heading out or back from the interior. I couldn't tell for sure for lack of landmarks in that pic.

Glad you are ok.

[DrCaleb]

Stressed supply chains snarled anew as B.C. floods wash out rail lines, roads

The lower mainland is not only an island in the Pacific now because of roads being washed out, the rails that carry most things are too.

[Zipperfish]

Our town store is quickly running out of stuff, especially bread and produce.

[xerxes]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Stressed supply chains snarled anew as B.C. floods wash out rail lines, roads

The lower mainland is not only an island in the Pacific now because of roads being washed out, the rails that carry most things are too.

Yeah it’s going to get bad this winter. The Coquihala is going to be out of action for a good while as are most other highways. Highway 3 is looking to be in the best shape but winter is coming and is already snowing in Allison Pass.

[xerxes]

Some historical perspective.

[DrCaleb]

Why would you build an overpass in a lake? Like those island nations that build graveyards underwater. Makes no sense.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Why would you build an overpass in a lake? Like those island nations that build graveyards underwater. Makes no sense.

Well they did build Expo 67 on the St-Laurence river.

[xerxes]

It’s a floodplain. There are dykes in the area to keep the water at bay. But with the biblical amount of rain we had over the weekend, they failed. And way back when, there used to be a lake but it was drained in the 1920’s.

[Thanos]

Has that area been overly-logged and clear-cut over the last century? I know it's very hot and arid there but if most of the old forest got wiped out then the soil will have long been left incapable of growing the root-systems necessary to make the area less likely to get ravaged by flash flooding.

[DrCaleb]

Thanos Thanos:

Has that area been overly-logged and clear-cut over the last century? I know it's very hot and arid there but if most of the old forest got wiped out then the soil will have long been left incapable of growing the root-systems necessary to make the area less likely to get ravaged by flash flooding.

Burning also changes soil chemistry, and water runs off it until plants take hold again.

[xerxes]

Thanos Thanos:

Has that area been overly-logged and clear-cut over the last century? I know it's very hot and arid there but if most of the old forest got wiped out then the soil will have long been left incapable of growing the root-systems necessary to make the area less likely to get ravaged by flash flooding.

It's farmland and has been for over a century, so it's safe to say some trees have been cleared since then. And there used to be a shallow lake in the area called Sumas Lake which was drained in the 1920's.

The fires along he Coquihalla explain why the mudslides happened. The heavy rains were compounded by the fact that the weather system was a Pineapple Express; one that brings a stupid amount of rain as well as warm trade winds from Hawaii. Couple that with the higher temps causing a snow melt at higher elevations, and hence the severe flooding.

[Scape]

[xerxes]

Things are getting worse out here in Abbotsford. The mayor just held a late press conference telling anyone who’s left on the Sumas Prairie to get out immediately. The pumping station that keeps the Fraser River at bay and Sumas Lake from reforming is in danger of imminent failure. If it goes under, then the whole prairie will be under 3m of water.

[housewife]

xerxes xerxes:

Things are getting worse out here in Abbotsford. The mayor just held a late press conference telling anyone who’s left on the Sumas Prairie to get out immediately. The pumping station that keeps the Fraser River at bay and Sumas Lake from reforming is in danger of imminent failure. If it goes under, then the whole prairie will be under 3m of water.

Will you still be ok?

[xerxes]

I’ll be fine. I live in a higher part of town. But the prairie that’s already underwater will be super fucked.

Edit. And if the worst happens then the Fraser Valley is going to be fucked economically for years. This is some of the most fertile farmland in all of North America and to have that all washed away would take years to recover from. On top of that, nearly 50% of BC’s meat and dairy comes from here. There’s already going to be a major disruption to dairy supplies just from these few days because of the dairy farms that have been flooded and aren’t producing milk.