1 year later, British Columbians who lost everything reflect on devastating floods

John Jongema's house is habitable again, but he is not getting rid of the fifth-wheel trailer he moved onto his farmland to ride out the rebuild anytime soon.

"I'm keeping that trailer as a getaway," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Jongema, who lives on a hobby farm on the Sumas Prairie about 90 kilometres east of Vancouver, is one of nearly 20,000 people in the southern part of British Columbia forced from their homes a year ago after record-breaking rains caused catastrophic flooding. 

The relentless rain came via an atmospheric river — an airborne stream of water vapour across the Pacific that originated in the subtropics. It triggered fatal mudslides, damaged critical highway infrastructure and called into question responsibility for flood mitigation in a province repeatedly pummeled by the impacts of climate change.

Jongema and his wife were out of town on Nov. 15, 2021, when the Nooksack River in Washington state breached a dike and flooded B.C. farms. Their adult son Jordan was house-sitting and had to be rescued by boat after the water rose higher than the light switches.

 "It was really traumatic," said Jongema. "He was practically floating."

The Jongema's are home for Christmas after spending about $250,000 to rebuild. The federal government disaster program contributed $88,000. Their insurance company coughed up $7,000, and they raised the rest. 

"I'm actually afraid of losing everything we've invested in … what if it floods again?" asked Jongema.

WATCH | CBC meteorologist explains an atmospheric river:

What is an atmospheric river?

2 years ago

Duration 1:23

It's a term that became more widely known after record-setting flooding hit B.C. in November 2021, but as meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe explains, atmospheric rivers are not new to west coast of North America.

Sumas Prairie submerged

For thousands of years, Sumas Lake was one of the defining features of B.C.'s Fraser Valley. But about 100 years ago, it was drained to make way for farming and residential lands.

When the torrential rains hit and the Nooksack River overflowed its banks, residents living on the Sumas Prairie near Abbotsford, B.C., where the lake used to be, watched it nearly come back as floodwater threatened to shut down the local pumping station — a disaster that was narrowly averted by volunteers pitching in to help emergency crews.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said last week it had been an emotional year for many B.C. farmers who lost a total of 630,000 chickens, 420 cattle and 12,000 hogs during the extreme weather event.

Dave Martens, whose farm in Abbotsford is smack in the middle of the Sumas Prairie, had 40,000 chickens perish in his barn. He is trying to get up and running again, but supply chain issues and expenses are hampering progress.

Martens said Popham's ministry offered some financial support, but he worries about people in the community who don't farm and are not eligible for that help.

"The disaster financial has not been enough … anyone not in agriculture [is] really suffering," said Martens.

In total, 1,100 farms in the Sumas Prairie were placed under evacuation orders or alerts, and 150 square kilometres of land were swamped. 

Matt Vanderveen has a dairy farm in Abbotsford and a ranch in Merritt, B.C., about 160 kilometres northeast of the Sumas Prarie flood zone, and both his properties took a beating. 

Vanderveen flew over his Abbotsford place days after the floods and said the sight was surreal, but he said in Merritt, the damage was on a "whole other level," and he feels less attention has been paid to the perils of people outside of the Lower Mainland.

"It seems like we're forgotten up there," he told CBC's The Early Edition.

On Nov. 14, Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth issued a statement acknowledging the hardships people like Vanderveen have faced over the past year and said a full recovery from the flooding of 2021 will take several more years. 

"We must continue to adjust to the reality of climate change," he said. 

The Merritt mess

All 7,000 residents of Merritt, located in the Nicola Valley 270 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, were forced to evacuate after the Coldwater River burst its banks and the city's wastewater treatment plant failed.

Vicki Hansen, who owns a flower shop in Merritt, says many people are still not back in their homes, and some have moved away because of the stress.

The mobile home Hansen lived in twisted in the floods, and the addition she had built off it became riddled with black mould in the aftermath. She's back in her place, but nothing feels normal.

"I actually think we are dealing with a lot of trauma," said Hansen. "I don't think Merritt will be the same four or five years from now."

The Shackan Indian Band, which has called the Nicola Valley home since time immemorial, declared a state of emergency a year ago and evacuated all 45 properties on its reserve.

After being struck by wildfires and floods, Chief Arnie Lampreau says he wants to be able to move his people within the band's territory to safer land "without having to jump through a whole pile of hoops" with colonial governments.

He and his wife were removed from their house a year ago and are not yet back.

"When we look at the countryside, and how it has been devastated, our animals are not there, our sustenance is not there, and so we are not able to look at that as our way of life," said Lampreau.

The Princeton problem

Located about 90 kilometres south of Merritt, the approximately 3,000 residents of Princeton, B.C., are also still trying to get back on their feet.

According to Mayor Spencer Coyne, a "good chunk of the town" still doesn't have potable water, and many people are suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Visible watermarks on the exteriors of homes are not helping.

"When you see them, it comes back," said Coyne.

The mayor said the local community has come together but that all three levels of government must take responsibility when it comes to flood preparation.

About 20 years ago, the province effectively passed responsibility for floodplain designation, planning and responsibility down to local governments.  While the province regulates dikes, municipalities are forced to compete with one another for funding applications to improve them or build new ones.

"It's been a huge bone of contention," said Coyne.

And climate experts say the next big storm could come sooner rather than later.

Climate scientist Francis Zwiers, director of the University of Victoria's Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, said the group produced a study this year that concluded human-induced climate change had increased the probability of such an event by up to 50 per cent.

"The probability of what we thought historically were high numbers has been increased because of human influence on the climate system,'' he said in an interview.

Back on the Sumas Prairie, Martens has built up high ground on his chicken farm just in case people or equipment need to be saved. And Jongema has his fifth wheel at the ready.