Some Sumas Prairie residents now able to return home, Abbotsford mayor says

Some residents in Abbotsford have been given the green light to return to their homes Friday afternoon.

Those in the north part of the Sumas Prairie were given the good news by Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun, while some others were told it would likely be many more weeks before they can return to see their properties.

Getting emotional as he shared the news that the evacuation order has now been lifted, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun acknowledged some people will not be able to enter their homes as they will have sustained too much damage.

“I’ve watched peoples’ hearts break. Some have lost everything, some relatively unscathed but many… I know many…  I have friends up there. I’m glad to see them go back,” he said visibly upset.

He says ultimately the recovery for his community will be an extended process.

North Sumas Prairie residents (in blue) were allowed to return Dec.3, 2021 as the evacuation order was lifted. (abbotsford.ca)

“Our rapid damage assessment teams have and will be continuing to assess more than 3,000 structures across Sumas Prairie. Some, including homes, may not be inhabitable. We recognize this will bring many questions for those who receive a ‘do not enter’ notice,” he said Friday afternoon.

All the homes will have signs posted on doors or on barns with more information. Those details are also online. 

The South, Central, and Lake Bottom areas are still under an evacuation order.

While Abbotsford is no longer facing the threat of more severe flooding, some people won’t be able to return home for weeks to come. The next update from the city will be on Monday.

While the months ahead will not be easy, there are some small glimmers of home. The evacuation order for Huntington Village was lifted on Thursday, allowing residents to return to their homes after they were forced out by flood concerns days ago.

But not everyone is in the same situation. The long road to recovery entails getting all the water out of the Sumas Prairie.

Mayor Henry Braun is making it clear to people eager to go home in that area that some of them won’t be able to for some time because of the water left in the lake bottom.

“The lake bottom — that’s a lake that’s four and a half kilometres across, or diametre, and it’s five to six feet deep. At six or seven inches a day, we’re going to be there pumping for weeks yet,” he said Thursday afternoon.

“The Barrowtown flood gates are open, even with the Fraser River levels being variable due to tides and the water level in Sumas Prairie Lake bottom has dropped seven inches in the last 24 hours thanks to our Barrowtown Pump Station.”

He adds the city also needs to do damage assessments of each property, with some likely to be deemed too dangerous to return to.

The city is expected to provide more information on that process on Friday, when it reveals more details about its return to home program.

Related articles: 

• Gruesome task of removing dead farm animals set to begin in Abbotsford

• ‘I built it as a dream house’: Sumas Prairie farmers still struggling to comprehend loss

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

On Thursday morning, Braun reflected on the past several weeks in a conversation with CityNews.

“I see light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not a train coming at us,” he said in the one-on-one interview, his sense of relief obvious in his tone.

He admitted the past month has been difficult to navigate, and noted the immense cost it will take for his community to get back on its feet.

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

With many crops completely flooded, farms destroyed, and infrastructure compromised, he estimated the cost to recover could total about $2 billion.

In a provincial update Thursday afternoon, Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said she had a chance to tour some of the flood zones, noting a lot of livestock has been affected.

“We know, at this point, there are 628,000 poultry reported dead, 420 dairy cattle diseased, and approximately 12,000 hogs. Also of note, there is 110 bee hives that have been submerged,” she explained.