A Flood Victim's Perspective

Sunday, January 27, 2008 04:21 AM

Nechako Flood Victims Coalition Co-Chair, Ed Mazur (Opinion250 photo)

Prince George, B.C. - Ed Mazur has been out of his home on PG Pulp Mill Road for almost seven weeks now...

Mazur and his partner, Ramona, were forced out by the Nechako River icejam and flooding. "We're actually one of the lucky ones," he says, "In that we don't have water in our house, but it's all the way around it."

"The biggest problem for us is that we've been evacuated because we don't have washrooms -- our septic field has been flooded, so we have no water or sewer."

Mazur says they've only owned the property for a year and have been working to set up a couple of small businesses -- including a holistic healing centre that they're just starting to receive booking inquiries about now. "We can't run them and probably won't be covered for that, so we're losing out there. Hopefully, I'm wrong."

He says those outbuildings also remain dry, but the seepage of groundwater has been incredible, especially after the January 5th water surge that surpassed the 200-year flood plan. "(Water) came right to our sandbags that we had set around the house."

The pair have been staying with family and friends, but have spent several nights in the house, "because we didn't want to leave the place."

Mazur is Co-Chair of the recently-formed Nechako Flood Victims Coalition. He attended last week's first Community Flood Information Forum and is hopeful the two options the City is employing -- the Amphibex and warm water pipeline -- will prove fruitful. "At least there's a light that there may be an end to this because before this (the two-pronged plan), there was no end -- we heard, 'Be ready to wait for spring.'"

Like many of the flood victims at the information forum, Mazur was perplexed to hear that a study the City hopes to undertake with the province to find long-term solutions could take up to 14-months to see results. "I understand it, although I'm disappointed it will take so long because I had this wishful thinking that somewhere down the line, they'll have something by the summer or fall."

Mazur says as long as the city keeps the affected residents informed and involved, it's easier to bide time outside their homes. "When we can't do anything it makes it that much harder," he says. "At least when we're at these meetings we're getting information and there's a chance something's going to clear up."

"It's been tough (being evacuated), but it's our home and eventually this is going to end."

Previous Story - Next Story