Lower Mainland residents still reeling since atmospheric river

One year after a torrential atmospheric river pummeled B.C.’s south coast, dumping more than 200 millimetres of rain on certain areas over the course of a weekend, some residents are still picking up the pieces.

Adam Swain is still getting rid of debris from his flooded basement and Ali Mirzai is suing for damages as his insurance will not cover.

And still others sift through the wreckage of a Coquitlam home swept away in a mudslide, killing a beloved local teacher.

Locals that came together over the weekend to clean up the possessions of Sonia McIntyre.

She was 57 years old when the atmospheric river claimed her life, one of four people who passed away as the result of the deadly deluge in Port Coquitlam.

Evidence of the flooding is scattered around Hyde Creek for those affected. It’s always in the back of their mind.

“It is like a traumatic thing. You get used to where all of a sudden, when it starts raining heavy, you’re now looking at the street up the stream, across the street, you are going across to the other stream to make sure this isn’t going to happen again,” said Swain whose home was flooded by the atmospheric river.

“And let’s face it, the city is doing their best, but the process hasn’t really changed. So, you know, on the next big rainstorm, that flood is going to come.”

The city says it’s investing in new anti flooding infrastructure, including upgrades to a pumping station, but that’s still unrealized, leaving residents anxious.

“We got a lot of rain coming in the next few days, so you cross your fingers at that stream is not going to raise and we’re going to get flooded out for the third time in four years, five years,” Swain added.

The financial burden of building and rebuilding as property values plummet is weighing on Adam’s neighbor Ali Mirzaei, who had just finished moving into his house with his wife and toddler when the storm struck.

“Water rushed into our basement. Within minutes, everything was gone,” he told The Leader Spirit.

“We turned to our insurance. They only covered part of it. We turned to the BC Disaster Financial assistance program, and they only gave us a $6 check.”

Mirzaei says he is in the process of suing the city of Port Coquitlam over their management of a culvert next to his house that contributed to the flooding.

“But honestly, we are very hopeless. The system isn’t designed to protect us,” Mirzaei added.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada said the atmospheric river caused $110 million in insured damages, but for some the cost isn’t measured in dollars.