One-on-one with Abbotsford’s mayor: City safe from more flooding, focus shifting to long, costly recovery

It’s what the people of Abbotsford have been waiting to hear for weeks: the mayor says he thinks his city is now safe from more flooding, and his focus will soon shift to recovery.

“I see light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not a train coming at us,” Mayor Henry Braun told CityNews Thursday morning, his sense of relief obvious in his tone.

“I think we are on the downhill slope.”

NEW: Good news out of #Abbotsford. Mayor Henry Braun tells @CityNewsVAN he thinks his city is safe from more flooding. "I see light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train." Focus turning to long + costly recovery. "I can see a $2 billion bill here coming up pretty quick."

— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) December 2, 2021

He says while water is expected to continue coming over the border over the next few days as is drains from fields on the U.S. side, by the weekend, the Sumas Prairie should be in much better shape.

“Floodgates are open, I would expect the lake bottom has dropped again because we didn’t get the kind of rainfall — at least not that I’m aware of out here — that we were expecting,” Braun added.

This comes after a devastating few weeks for the Sumas Prairie. Flooding has destroyed homes and crops, and left hundreds of farm animals dead and many people out of their homes.

While Braun’s optimism signals better days ahead for Abbotsford, the mayor admits there’s a long and costly road ahead.

“For a blueberry farmer, your first good crop is year four or five. So for four or five years, they will have no income and this is where the federal government, the provincial government is really going to have to step up to help our farming community. Otherwise, they won’t make it,” he explained.

Braun is also turning to those levels of government to help cover costs of all the damage that’s been caused in the city over the last few weeks, a bill he believes could total about $2 billion.

“We can’t do that. Our tax requisition in one year is $160 million so $2 billion is just impossible. So that’s where the federal and provincial governments have to help and they have assured me they will.”

An exhausting few weeks

Abbotsford’s major floods were triggered when an atmospheric river swept across southern B.C. in mid November. That weather system would be the first of four to hit the province in less than a month.

It’s been a trying time for the community — as well as many others across B.C. — but Braun is hoping people can see relief is coming.

“I’m trying to just encourage them and to hang in there because we’re at the end of this. I think this is day 19? You know, the days are all the same,” he said with a slight chuckle.

“We’ve got a bit to go, but the heavy lifting is behind us. The dikes are up to where they were — actually, they’re a little higher because Emergency Management BC gave us the authorization to raise the dike a half a metre for about several kilometres from the Barrowtown Pump Station heading west. So we’re in good shape.”

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Braun says it’s been heartwarming to see the support from people, not just from outside his community but within.

“It’s just been wonderful in the midst of heartache and heartbreak,” the mayor added.

But he admits the recovery will take years, and it will be no small feat.

Before turning to recovery and introducing in the “return to home” plan, Braun says there are a number of things that need to happen.

For example, he says a number of roads, including Highway 1, need to reopen and be cleared of water and debris. On Thursday, crews were seen taking down the Tiger Dam that was set up across Highway 1.

Abbotsford’s mayor handles crisis alongside supportive wife

The flooding and repeated storms have put a major stress on everyone in Abbotsford, including Braun.

He admits it’s been a trying time.

“I’m tired, people tell me I look tired on TV, and I say, ‘I can confirm that, I am tired,'” Braun told CityNews, adding adrenalin has helped keep him going.

Mayor Braun says last 2.5 weeks have been trying: “Ppl. tell me I look tired on TV + I say, ‘well I can confirm that – I am tired.'” He adds he’s getting through this thanks to wife. “She’s not part of what’s going on but she’s there every morning + every evening supporting me.”

— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) December 2, 2021

But his wife has also played a major role in keeping his spirits up, the mayor adds.

“A very supportive wife, I haven’t mentioned her, this is I think the first time. I couldn’t do this if she wasn’t beside me. She’s not part of what’s going on, but she’s there every morning and every evening supporting me and encouraging me because I’ve had my moments too where I thought, ‘Wow, are we actually going to get out of this or is it going to get worse?'”

Braun says one such moment was when the Barrowtown Pump Station was at risk of failing — something he says would have been a “doomsday scenario.”

The city will soon be releasing its “return home plan,” though Braun could not provide an exact timeline.

“We will shoulder along because we have a lot of work in front of us. The cleanup is enormous. There is so much debris out there that we’re going to have to do a lot of cleanups,” he explained.

Braun says dikes will also see adjustments, with the hopes that another similar tragedy can be avoided.