Flood disaster takes bite out of B.C. economy, sends infrastructure wake-up call

Economic growth in British Columbia will face erosion from recent floods and slides that crippled transportation links, but the resilience of government and industry to keep supply chains open limits the damage, says an economist.

Vital road, rail and port links were severed for weeks when a series of record-breaking rains last month deluged southern B.C., flooding highways and farms and forcing about 15,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Ken Peacock, senior vice-president and chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., said he estimated the weather disaster will result in lost economic output for the province ranging from $250 million to $400 million.

"We're sort of thinking maybe the direct impact of shutting down the highways, closing the rails, the Trans Mountain pipeline being down and then the retail impacts, we're kind of thinking maybe three-tenths of a percentage point," he said.

"It would shave off growth for 2021."