Blast from the Past

This image: Texada Island flooded by heavy rain, 1973. Header image: Bob Briggs observes his garage’s flood-crumpled foundation on Gerrard Street, 1983.

Olga McLeod looks over giant concrete culverts which will solve the flooding problem along Squatter’s Creek, 1983.

Flooding? It can happen here.

With the recent environmental challenges facing many communities throughout the province, I was curious to find out about past floods in qalower mainland previously. In June of 1948, major flooding occurred throughout the entire Fraser Valley, resulting in the evacuthet’s history. Somewhat less susceptible to extreme flooding, qathet has mostly been a victim of forest fires and earthquakes in terms of natural disasters.

That’s not to say we haven’t had them; there are many records of smaller scale floods in the region. One of them occurring in BLAST February of 1935, when the Lois River flooded. FROM THE PAST This flood caused landslides, disrupted railroad JOËLLE SÉVIGNY tracks, and resulted in cracks in the penstock cradle at the Lois Lake Dam.

In January of 1973, three consecutive days of heavy rain caused flooding throughout the region. Hit hardest by the rainfall was Texada Island. Two feet of water flooded Andy’s Corner between Gillies Bay and Vananda. Some bridges on the highway were damaged and schools were closed for a few days.

Heavy rain also used to cause flooding problems in Westview, with Squatter’s Creek overflowing. The creek which runs through Westview, created many problems for homeowners over the years before it was diverted. In 1983, big concrete culverts were purchased by the Municipality, part of a $400,000 project to manage the creek.

Although a great flood like the one facing our neighbours today, has not been seen in our part of the world just yet, similar flooding has occurred in the ation of 16,000 people and over 2,000 homes were destroyed. An initiative from the Board of Trade in Vancouver was set-up, creating a province-wide B.C. Flood Emergency Fund with a million dollar objective (equivalent to 11 million dollars in 2021). Interestingly, in Powell River, a Local Committee was formed to handle an emergency drive for the victims of the flood. At a special meeting of the Powell River Local 142 and Local 76, which represented 1,500 Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill workers, it was agreed that a day’s pay per worker would be deducted from payroll, to support the B.C. Flood Relief Fund. There was also a dance at the Lund Community Hall to fundraise for the Flood Emergency Fund and an elementary class even hosted an afternoon tea fundraiser. This is just one example in our history, where qathet rose to the occasion and assembled forces to help our neighbours. You can call these initiatives a predecessor to the modern day go fund me pages.

Blast from the Past is written monthly by Powell River Historical Museum and Archives public engagement coordinator Joëlle Sévigny. | jysevigny@powellrivermuseum.ca

A railroad at Lois River is washed away by a flood, 1935. Photos courtesy of the Powell River Historical Museum & Archives