Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. Canada's emergency preparedness minister is going back to the epicentre of a flood that devastated British Columbia's Fraser Valley in November 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Canada’s emergency preparedness minister is returning to the epicentre of flooding that devastated British Columbia’s Fraser Valley in November 2021.
Bill Blair, along with B.C. Minister of Emergency Management Bowinn Ma and Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens, is set to take part in an announcement today on federal disaster recovery funding for the province.
A series of atmospheric rivers washed over southern B.C. over three days in mid-November 2021, triggering flooding that inundated farmland and killed thousands of animals.
Five people died when a mudslide washed over Highway 99 north of Pemberton, and at the peak of the flooding, 15,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
The rains swelled numerous rivers, which washed away bridges and stretches of highway, cutting off the Lower Mainland from the rest of the country.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated the cost of insured flood damage was at least $450 million, making it the most expensive disaster in the province’s history.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2023.
