Nearly a year after Abbotsford flooding, B.C. officials providing update on recovery

The B.C. government is providing an update on flood recovery work in Abbotsford on Thursday, nearly a year after the intense storms that devastated parts of the community.

The B.C. government is providing an update on flood recovery work in Abbotsford on Thursday, nearly a year after the intense storms that devastated parts of the community.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth will be speaking at an event in Abbotsford at 12:15 p.m., along with Mayor Ross Siemens and Chief Dalton Silver of the Semá:th First Nation. CTV News will be streaming the event live.

More than 3,300 residents were forced from their homes when a series of atmospheric rivers caused the Nooksack River to overflow and flood areas of Abbotsford and the Sumas Valley. 

About 630,000 chickens, 12,000 hogs and 420 cattle died during the extreme weather events, which also washed out highways and caused landslides elsewhere in the Lower Mainland that killed five people.

After the waters cleared away, officials promised to find solutions to reduce flood risks for the Fraser Valley.

Earlier this week, Highway 8 – a key transportation route for several First Nations communities that was damaged in the same storms – was also reopened. 

The highway was damaged in 32 different areas during the storms, with a total of seven kilometres of the route washed away.