In the wake of the Dec. 27 floods, it became clear that some of us aren’t prepared for an emergency.
Some perhaps expected that others were in charge and going to save them — the District, the province or someone else.
The harsh truth about natural disasters is that no one is coming to save you, at least not immediately, unless your life is in danger.
The District told The Squamish Chief last week, “Property owners are responsible for minimizing damage to private property.”
There are plans at the municipal level that are in place that will protect us from a massive flood — the sea dike, for example.
But that is not going to be in place tomorrow.
This means that if a king tide is expected, as it is again later this month, it behooves individuals in low-lying areas to prepare.
The Squamish Chief talked with owners of Abbotsford business Yellow Barn Country Market, whose fresh produce business was flooded with two feet of water for eight days in November of 2021.
The owners have since sold the property as it was too costly to reopen given the risks.
They say that, unlike our recent flood, there weren’t even sandbagging stations when the waters started to rise for them.
“We were all on our own, all looking at each other going like, ‘Is this really going to be a problem?,’” said Dale Hodgins.
The owners had two main messages for folks in Squamish:
“If I had a business up in Squamish, then I would be thinking for sure, it’s going to be up to me — like it or not,” said Kim Hamilton.
The owners suggest local business owners consider fortifying brick-and-mortar buildings so they and their goods are protected the next time.
“Because there will not be the money to save you; there won’t be the money in these public coffers or insurance to save you. There won’t be,” said Hamilton, who added that our mentality has to shift to be more collective.
“I think that business owners, homeowners, insurance, ratepayers associations ... we have to come together and do this together. Because there is no such thing as [a] municipality without property taxpayers, and if you all up and leave, or if the waters come and take every single business out of there, then there is no municipality,” she said.
“We have to start thinking about this and using different language. And that’s what’s going to save us, not even just business owners thinking they’ve got to do it for themselves. You’re not going to win at that. You have got to think about this differently and come together differently. And I know that’s a big, philosophical thing, but I mean it. Boots on the ground — those boots that are in a circle; those boots have to be everybody in that community.”
Hodgins suggested folks in Squamish, from the municipality to paramedics to journalists and business owners, meet once a month together — not siloed — to talk about how to make Squamish resilient against such disasters and what each of us will do the next time the waters rise.
