Vancouver flooding

Started by EBuff75, November 16, 2021, 09:17:48 AM

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EBuff75

This just came up in an emergency prep group on Facebook.  Flooding has gotten so bad in Vancouver that there are no longer any roads connecting it to the rest of Canada.  Currently, the only roads out of the province are through the U.S.

https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Provincial/Vancouver_is_now_completely_cut_off_to_the_rest_of_Canada_by_road#fs_105178

Someone in that group pointed out that there was a similar situation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria destroyed Highway 10. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/25/puerto-rico-struggles-with-aftermath-of-hurricane-maria.html

Something to keep in mind if you're in an area that is dependent on just a few roads for travel in/out.  While Burt Gummer might appreciate his geographic isolation, just like in the movie, it can make for a bad time when things don't go well!  Remember the Camp Fire in California a few years ago with thousands of people using a single road to escape.  If that road had been blocked / washed out, how many deaths would there have been?
Information - it's all a battle for information. You have to know what's happening if you're going to do anything about it. - Tom Clancy, Patriot Games

RoneKiln

#1
They can't get far into the US. Everything is flooded south of them as well. I'm pretty sure my region is an island at the moment. I went exploring on foot to confirm my routes to higher ground, and I'm pretty happy to have recently bought the truck.

I'll post pics in a bit.

I'm going to go recon again in a bit to determine if it's worth rearranging the garage and loading up all the firearms and cat for evac. If the river rises 2 more feet, it will breach the dike just south of me.

ETA: There's only one suburban sized lot between me and that dike, and the water level on the other side of that dike is well above my property. Dike on the far side of the river is completely underwater.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

RoneKiln

The site won't let me upload pics from my phone. It keeps timing out.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

RoneKiln

CERT came by and said the river is still several hours from cresting and to be ready to bolt cause there's a good chance the dike could be breached.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

EBuff75

Quote from: RoneKiln on November 16, 2021, 01:32:36 PM
CERT came by and said the river is still several hours from cresting and to be ready to bolt cause there's a good chance the dike could be breached.

Hope you've got everything safely stowed and are ready to run if need be.  If you're that close to the dike, it sounds like things could change very, very rapidly if there's a breach!  Take care!
Information - it's all a battle for information. You have to know what's happening if you're going to do anything about it. - Tom Clancy, Patriot Games

RoneKiln

I think I'm in the clear.

The water made it to within a foot of the top about a 100 yards south of me where the dike is lowest. It's now receded a foot and is expected to continue receding over the night. They then expect another surge tomorrow from snow melt.

I moved my car to higher ground with some stuff in it, and have the truck ready to go. I'll check the water level again in a few hours. Again, I am grateful I bought the truck last month.

I've been offered tons of free sandbags and sadly had to pass them up. They way my property is, sandbags won't help. They were far more use elsewhere. Two of my structures are up off the ground. The 3rd doesn't have any choke points to sandbag. I'd have to use a ton of bags to encircle the entire structure.

The water is now about 6 feet above my property. If the dike fails, it'll be 100 yards south of me in an area lower in elevation than me. So long as I know it's flooding, I'll have plenty of time to get out. So I'll be taking some late night walks tonight.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

RoneKiln

Site is still timing out before my phone can upload photos. I might walk down to the local microbrewery this evening and try to use their wifi. No idea if they're open. But I'm cut off from the coffee shop by the river.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

Ever (Zombiepreparation)

Just came online after a few days. This is the first I'm hearing about this. Am going to go google this to find out what happened.

Is all well with you and yours? And the others in the area?

Ever (Zombiepreparation)

Good lord. What's going on up there is terrible.  geezuz. Good luck to all of you.

RoneKiln

I'm good. The river has dropped another 4 or 5 feet and the road out front has drained. My area is no longer an island but there's minimal routes out (good routes to high ground with friends though). I'm leaving my little car on high ground till I know we won't get a bad surge again from snow melt and keeping gear for evacuating ready to load.

Worse I know of happening to any of my close knit network is a 6 inch wide hole punched into my parents roof by a large branch coming down. They're several hours south of me in good conditions so I can't really run down there to help. My littlest brother down there isn't any use in these situations either (thank god he married into an awesome family).

Many friends and family of my friends were hit real hard. A buddy's son had just finished remodeling his house in preparation for a baby due in two weeks and the house is destroyed. He'd even worked a small levee into the landscaping and had sandbags ready to go for the driveway. If I understand right, a big truck passing nearby set of waves that were just enough to breach the top and start pushing sandbags over at a point they were all too exhausted to mitigate the catastrophe. They're not sure it wouldn't have eventually given away anyway.

I'm glad the previous owner of my place brought in a ton of soil and added about 6 to 8 inches of elevation to my place (estimating by how deep I found the original front walk during a yard project). They did it for landscaping purposes, but I saw the impact yesterday. I continued this by where I built mounds for berry bushes and added a front entryway step with small retaining wall by the sidewalk. Plus how I redid the driveway and lawn in back bringing in a dozen(ish) yards of topsoil and crushed rock. That may have been the difference between walking on dry ground vs several inches of water when loading and moving vehicles. On a flat flood plain, 6 inches to a foot can be a huge difference in elevation.
"Seriously the most dangerous thing you are likely to do is to put salt on a Big Mac right before you eat it and to climb into your car."
--Raptor

Ever (Zombiepreparation)

Quote from: RoneKiln on November 17, 2021, 12:18:35 PM
I'm good. The river has dropped another 4 or 5 feet and the road out front has drained. My area is no longer an island but there's minimal routes out (good routes to high ground with friends though).
👍

QuoteI'm leaving my little car on high ground till I know we won't get a bad surge again from snow melt and keeping gear for evacuating ready to load.
This is so far from anything I've ever experienced or know IRL people who have it's hard for me to wrap my mind around. Flooding, evacuating, words from the news, from ZS prepping 'for' evacuating, from people on a message board who've been there in the past... far away from me stuff, in a possible future. But keeping the little car on high ground, another snow melt surge, gear ready to evacuate is Real, and now, and you whom I'm talking to while you 'there'. A bit surreal.

btw Excellent work!

QuoteWorse I know of happening to any of my close knit network is a 6 inch wide hole punched into my parents roof by a large branch coming down.
whoa

QuoteThey're several hours south of me in good conditions so I can't really run down there to help. My littlest brother down there isn't any use in these situations either (thank god he married into an awesome family).
Yeah

QuoteMany friends and family of my friends were hit real hard. A buddy's son had just finished remodeling his house in preparation for a baby due in two weeks and the house is destroyed. He'd even worked a small levee into the landscaping and had sandbags ready to go for the driveway. If I understand right, a big truck passing nearby set of waves that were just enough to breach the top and start pushing sandbags over at a point they were all too exhausted to mitigate the catastrophe. They're not sure it wouldn't have eventually given away anyway.
My gods. (I'm actually dropping expletives left and right as I'm reading)

QuoteI'm glad the previous owner of my place brought in a ton of soil and added about 6 to 8 inches of elevation to my place (estimating by how deep I found the original front walk during a yard project). They did it for landscaping purposes, but I saw the impact yesterday. I continued this by where I built mounds for berry bushes and added a front entryway step with small retaining wall by the sidewalk. Plus how I redid the driveway and lawn in back bringing in a dozen(ish) yards of topsoil and crushed rock. That may have been the difference between walking on dry ground vs several inches of water when loading and moving vehicles. On a flat flood plain, 6 inches to a foot can be a huge difference in elevation.
gods, you're good at this.

And this will be good info for me and others who join us to learn from.

Dang. (not what I'm really saying. still dropping bunches of expletives I'm not typing 😏 )

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