Half of Abbotsford’s flood-damaged sites repaired: mayor

November’s floods caused catastrophic damage in Abbotsford, but there has been significant work to rebuild in the months since, according to the city’s mayor.

In an update Wednesday, Mayor Henry Braun says repairs are complete for half of the 300 sites initially identified as being damaged.

“It’s been a busy few months at the City of Abbotsford for our infrastructure recovery team, and our City crews have been making steady progress repairing sites that were damaged by the floods, including roads, landslide sites and debris-cleanup around creek banks,” the mayor said in a statement.

“We have now reopened Straiton Road, installed a temporary bridge at Lakemont Road, and made roadway/embankment erosion repairs across Sumas Prairie. Repair work is also underway on four of our City parks.”

In terms of what still needs to be fixed — the City says it still needs to get to the water damage at the Barrowtown Pump Station.

Abbotsford says it also needs to figure out how much sediment is still down in the Sumas Lake Bottom Canal.

Early last month, the province announced $228 million for farmers impacted by the historic floods, and the mayor said he is pleased with the announcement.

Related Articles: 

• B.C. announces $228M in flood relief for farmers

• ‘We haven’t received anything’: Lack of flood relief stalls rebuild for Sumas Prairie farmers

• Abbotsford farmers devastated by destruction of homes, crops in flooding

• 100K chickens, 450 cows believed dead in Abbotsford floods, farms press on

The Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program includes funding from the province and makes use of the federal government’s AgriRecovery Framework and Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA). It’s being billed as the largest recovery program for the sector in the province’s history.

Braun adds he has requested funding and support from higher levels of government to help with long-term solutions and infrastructure needs.

“As we continue our work towards developing long-term flood mitigation projects, we will be providing residents with the opportunity to view some of the proposed solutions, and will provide opportunities to you to offer feedback as well,” he said.

“While I know there is still a lot of work ahead of us, the City of Abbotsford, and its residents, have proven our collective resilience and I am optimistic we will continue to receive the senior levels of support we need for our federal and provincial governments, our farms will start producing once again and our City will build back stronger than it was before.”