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120 YEARS YOUR COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER
1891-2011
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • F R I D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 4 , 2 0 1 1
Snowfall sets new record Twenty-eight centimetres of snow fell on Chilliwack Tuesday night, the heaviest 12-hour snowfall in 14 years, says Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada. He says snow drifted to more than 34 centimetres in some places. Night time temperatures dipped to -2.5 degrees Celsius. The snowfall closed schools throughout the Chilliwack School District, as well as schools in Agassiz. The University of the Fraser Valley also closed its doors because of the snow. Police and firefighters responded to numerous accidents throughout the day. However, there were no reports of any serious injuries. The snow has since changed to rain, with another 30 to 40 millimetres expected Friday.
Alisson Duran, 6, and family friend Azmindia Melgar clomp through deep snow as they walk along First Avenue on Wednesday morning. For more photos see page 4, and for video go online to www.theprogress.com JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Greendale flood unlikely: city officials Robert Freeman The Progress Flooding hit parts of Greendale two years ago under a set of weather conditions similar to today: a heavy snowfall on top of frozen ground followed by a heavy rain. Could it happen again? City Coun. Chuck Stam, head of the city’s public safety advisory committee, doesn’t think so. He said it took a “perfect storm” of weather conditions - including a record 100-mm rainfall in just over a day - to cause area culverts to back up and spill out of farmers’ fields to flood nearby residents’ homes. Adams Road resident Daryl Wear,
one of those flooded in 2009, isn’t so sure. He agreed not enough rain has fallen in Greendale – yet. “But you never know,” he said. Wear also said the city did some “smart” work since 2009 to prevent a similar flood, but due to a lack funding had done only about 10 per cent of what was promised in a city study of drainage in the Greendale area. Stam agreed none of the major recommendations in the report are in place, but no amount of funding could “guarantee” future floods could be avoided. “There was no promise of an easy or quick or inexpensive fix,” he said. The study found there was no
single cause of the 2009 flooding in Greendale, and that flood prevention projects would cost $10-$19 million because of the complicated drainage in the lowland area that was once the bottom of a lake. Meanwhile, a forecast of 30-40 mm of rain falling in Chilliwack on Friday is far from the 100-mm deluge in just over a day back in 2009. Last year the city installed 55 metres of new storm drain pipe south of South Sumas Road to improve drainage, and installed a larger box culvert on Adams Road. An application for $2.5 million to improve a pump station in the area has been made to provincial and federal governments.
Residents and friends of South Sumas Road work together to sandbag a house from further damage in January, 2009. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS FILE
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