Dean Ostrowercha from Seasons Farm Market provided unique insight into how people living in and near Fraser Valley farmland navigated last year’s flood. He shared how in this instance, the main affectation was the traffic flow. Ostrowercha mentioned how the media’s coverage may have played a larger role than expected in how people reacted to the situation. Uncertainty of when and from where the water levels rose made people feel unsafe. Additionally, several transit areas were flooded, which led to a decrease in the number of people coming to the market.
“It affected us with traffic flow, because [of] the media everybody’s freaking out.”
Ostrowercha also mentioned how different measures contribute to better preparedness when it comes to dealing with the atmospheric river flooding. One of which was a siren system that gave updates concerning water levels of water bodies like the Nooksack River and gave over 20 hours of preparation time before the water would reach the Seasons Farm Market.
Additionally, Ostrowercha talked about how the events of 2021 served as an experience that enabled them to be more prepared in 2025, and how factors such as the reinforced Sumas dike and a new engine to pump water away from the Fraser Valley helped their situation. The Sumas dike’s reinforcement, Ostrowercha highlighted, is important because when the Sumas River breaks, it overflows into the Nooksack River and if that overflows, it does so into the surrounding farmland. He said reinforcement was a factor that prevented further devastation in 2025 compared to 2021.
“[The city] got that done. They got that [dike] fixed up, so that was good.”
Ostrowercha emphasized how even if 2025’s floods did affect several roads and closed off transit through various places, it still does not compare with the suddenness and magnitude of the 2021 floods. He recalled how they barely had any time to prepare, resulting in a massive loss of products allocated in the flooded bottom shelves, and how the city’s authorities had them evacuate the store.
“This time we heard the sirens, but we still had lots of time. It [now] takes about 20 hours for [the water] to get from there to here.”
Ostrowercha’s personal belief is that in order to prevent further damage from occurring in the future and doing more to prepare for similar events to come, there would need to be changes happening at the other side of the border. However, he believes that it’s likely those changes may not happen due to operation related complications.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
