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Abbotsford flooding: Partially open flooding, dyke repairs more than half complete, mayor says

Vancouver –

According to Mayor Henry Braun, the crew at Abbotsford are making good progress in the race against time to close a gap of about 100 meters on the Sumas River dike, and they are being helped by the partial opening of the outlet. flood at Barrowtown Pumping Station.

Braun said declining water levels in the Fraser River allowed the city to partially open its gates around 2 a.m. Saturday.

The flood dams allow water from the Sumas River to flow into the Fraser faster than the pumping station can pump it, but they can only be opened when the water level in the Sumas River is higher than that of the Fraser River.

At full capacity, Braun said, the amount of floodwater allowed to pass is seven times what the pumping station can handle. According to Braun, the pumping station can push 500,000 gallons of water per minute out of the Sumas Prairie and into the Fraser River.

“It made a huge difference,” Braun said. “I was just out there an hour ago, and I can see the change. There has been a significant change in some areas of the prairie.”

“This is very good news,” the mayor said of the partial reopening, although he warned that if water levels in Fraser rise, the gates may need to be closed.

The Sumas River dike repair work aims to prevent further flooding in the Sumas Pasture and Lake Sumas in the past, especially with more rain forecast on Monday and Tuesday.

Work is taking place on both sides of the nearly 100-meter gap in the dike, with contractors taking truck after truck of sand and rock to the site and working around the clock.

Photos and videos shared by teams working on the effort, as well as by Abbotsford police, show the emergency levee extending nearly halfway across the water.

In his statement on Saturday afternoon, Braun said more than half the gap has been closed.

MORE SOLDIERS TO THE FEMALE

There are 119 Canadian Forces troops on the ground supporting flood mitigation efforts in Abbotsford, Braun said Saturday.

“These soldiers will also use helicopters to move people, supplies and equipment in the area, and they are expected to add additional air support tomorrow,” the mayor said. said.

On Friday, Braun said plans to build a levee to prevent floodwaters had been scrapped, in favor of urgent repairs to the broken levee.

The levee plan would require access to the property of 22 Abbotsford residents north of Highway 1, and could mean the destruction of their homes.

Instead, under the current plan, none of the homes will need to be foreclosed on.

With heavy rainfall forecast for the next week, dyke repair is urgently needed to prevent floodwaters from the Nooksack River in the United States from overflowing the Sumas River and continuing to fill the long-dry Lake Sumas.

Abbotsford’s Barrowtown Pumping Station was used to pump water out of the lake bed and into the Fraser River, but it was overwhelmed by the amount of water that flooded the Sumas Plain during the recent disaster.

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