Cows swim to safety in Abbotsford floodwaters as farmers urged to leave livestock behind

The Fraser Valley farming community is anxiously waiting for updates on the impacts of the floods on their livelihood and livestock, but the mayor is casting a dire prediction about the fate of many of the area’s animals.

Abbotsford’s Mayor Harry Braun says he thought he saw some dead cows Tuesday afternoon as he looked out on the extensive flood damage of the Sumas Prairie area, which remains under evacuation orders.

“I think I saw a few cows that seemed to be floating in the water yesterday,” Braun said about what he saw from the helicopter tour of the scene.

“There’s a lot of birds out there too, poultry, and I saw barns that looked like they were half full of water and I can’t imagine that there’s any birds left alive. But we don’t have those numbers.”

He says he knows it is heartbreaking for farmers to obey the evacuation orders and leave their animals behind, especially knowing some will not survive.

For those who were able to get their livestock to safety in time, he says it was an incredibly challenging effort.

“The farmers have been taking livestock out, they have been doing it with motorboats…and a cow tied to the back in water that was five feet deep and farmhands in the water for hours, when they came out, when I saw them, they were shaking. They were cold, the cows are cold, they don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

The Barrowtown Pump Station is at risk of being overwhelmed, which could see more water flow into the Sumas Prairie – which is already underwater.

On Wednesday morning, the mayor says there is some hope as the Fraser River has dropped about two metres.

Read More: Hundreds in Abbotsford help fill sandbags around Barrowtown Pump Station amid floods

But residents are not out of the woods yet.

Despite an evacuation order put in place Tuesday morning, an estimated 300 people remained in the area as of that evening, and the mayor says the message is very simple: “you need to leave now.”

More than 180 of them had to be rescued by air and boats overnight Tuesday.

“They want to stay behind and protect what they have spent their whole life building. I get that — but nothing is worth your life. I’m speaking personally now. I just implore anyone who is listening to this to please heed the evacuation order and leave tonight. Tomorrow morning may be too late. I can’t predict the future. But we for sure have to plan for the worst — and right now that’s what we’re doing.”

Braun added, “Your life is more important to me than livestock.”

Properties inundated by flood waters are seen in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

British Columbia’s public safety minister is also repeating the mayor’s call for everyone to heed the evacuation order, and to leave the area if told to do so.

The area most at risk is primarily farmland and many of the properties are dairy farms.

On Tuesday, the entire community of Yarrow in Chilliwack – which include many ranches and chicken farms – was also placed on an evacuation order.

Abbotsford Police Const. Paul Walker told CityNews that staying behind is not only dangerous for those who do so but puts first responders at risk as well.

“This is a priority of life that are taking place right now, and we are starting off with human life,” he said. “I know it’s farmers’ livelihoods out there but we need the farmers and their families to evacuate,” Walker said, adding that right now they do not have the capacity to remove large amounts of cattle.

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun telling EVERYONE who is on evacuation order in the Sumas Prairies to get out now. Says pumps are not working properly in Sumas Lake, and if the water overflows from the Fraser into the flooding in the prairie it could be “catastrophic” @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/Wr2ZMhb2Ef

— Robyn Crawford (@robyncrawford_) November 17, 2021

Dairy industry already hard hit

The flooding is putting a strain on an industry still reeling from weather events this summer.

The BC Dairy Association says some farmers in the Fraser Valley are forced to move their cows to safety while dealing with high levels of water.

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Board chair member Holger Schwichtenberg says the impacts from abnormal weather this year are tremendous.

“We had the long hot summer, we had a very poor growing season unless you had irrigation, you know the ongoing effects of COVID and now we have this situation – It’s testing the resilience of dairy farmers that’s for sure,” he said.

#BCStorm update: Crews completed an aerial inspection this morning of our power lines along Highway 1 just east of Sumas in #Abbotsford affected by flooding. We’re continuing to post the latest outage updates here: https://t.co/nxhBxNPfKJ pic.twitter.com/VPxjGXDZqi

— BC Hydro (@bchydro) November 16, 2021

Nearby areas and those under alert have been preparing in case conditions worsen, with many frantically appealing for help with feed and transport in online Facebook groups.

Schwichtenberg says it’s not uncommon for this community to come together in times of need, and for people to offer up whatever they can in a moment’s notice.

“You’ve got trucks, you’ve got neighbours, you’ve got however has a pickup truck or something to haul cattle in, you start moving them to higher grounds or to farm to make arrangements to get them off the site,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press