Merritt preparing to bring community together for fifth anniversary of 2021 flood

This weekend will mark five years since the Coldwater River breached its banks and flooded the community. The entire town was force to evacuate for between one and two weeks, with some of the worst hit not able to return home for months on end. On Saturday (Nov. 14), the community will gather at the Claybanks RV Park and Mayor Mike Goetz will continue his tradition of walking the banks of the river on the anniversary.

The visible scars of the 2021 atmospheric river and flood are few and far between. Homes have been mucked out, the Middlesboro Bridge rebuilt, but what remains after $60 million of work is still very much daunting.

“We had a bridge to rebuild, diking sections to build, a whole bunch of cleanup to do,” said Sean Strang, director of flood recovery and mitigation. “We are probably somewhere about $60 million into this recovery already, with about $80 million in front of us of funded projects. Then we have somewhere around $35-40 million after that of unfunded projects that are yet to be done.”

That push for federal money to finish the final 25 per cent, again left hanging with Merritt absent from this years federal budget.

“We are still fishing for money for that last 30 per cent of the diking, so no, we aren’t finished yet,” added Goetz. “We have a ways to go there yet. And even when we do get the money, which I know we will eventually, we just have to keep plugging.”

Goetz hopes to be complete with all of the flood protection work by 2032, including the part still without funding.

The hardest part of the past half decade.

“Never expected to knock on somebody’s door and say, ‘Hey, you no longer live here anymore,’” said Goetz of property buyouts. “And that was something we were not prepared for, but we did it. And we fought for a good payout for them – a home for a home, it’s what we wanted. We wanted them to stay in this community, but it was hard.”

They say time heals all wounds. It can’t, however, repair dikes and that has left Merritt vulnerable to future flooding.

“It’s scary to think we are less protected than we were before 2021,” stated Strang. “The 2021 flood destroyed many sections of dike 129, 130, which existed before and they have not been able to be rebuilt yet because we can’t rebuild them to the old standards.”

Merritt is looking to rebuild those dikes to a higher standard, as the 2021 flood redefined the flood plain in the city from just over 100 homes to 1200.

Claybanks RV Park will play host this weekend for the community as it marks the five-year anniversary.

“It’s a day to be proud of what we’ve accomplished, where we are going,” said Goetz. “And you know what, nobody really left this community. Even though they had their homes destroyed, a lot of them stayed, re-did and they are here. That says a lot about the people of this community.”

As the community prepares to gather on Saturday to look back at five years since the Coldwater River breached it banks, a keen eye will be looking ahead as the city embarks on their biggest infrastructure project, $80 million worth of diking to help project the community.

CFJC News will have more out of Merritt on Tuesday, touching on how the city plans to tackle $80 million worth of infrastructure projects over the next four years.