Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
When a dike was breached and floodwaters started to flow across British Columbia’s Sumas Prairie a year ago, poultry farmer Corry Spitters said all he could do was let nature take its course. A feeling of helplessness gripped him as the encroaching water methodically engulfed his farm’s 21 barns, and 200,000 of his chickens drowned, he said. “You stand there and Mother Nature takes control,” said Spitters, 67. “What can you do? The water comes in and there’s nothing you can do.”
Every year, Lower Mainland residents prepare for the Big One. The region is located near the Cascadia subduction zone, and it’s only a matter of time before a megathrust earthquake hits. During the annual Oct. 20 ShakeOut event in southwest B.C., school kids practice diving under desks. People ready their workplaces with emergency kits and evacuation plans. But there’s another type of disaster that we’re reminded about less often: a major flood.
