I spent a couple years in the PNW back in the mid-70s. Lived/worked in the Seattle area, but escaped to your neighborhood every chance I got. MUCH nicer IMHO. Favorite part of the state. Puget sound area didn't do much for me.
The most notable difference between east and west is the west has grown and spread out everywhere. What used to be rural farms is suburban housing developments, to the point that city stretches out into town and towns into the next city. Too over crowded for my taste.
I saw that on the news this morning. BC got seriously wrecked, with east bound rail and roads cut. There is no schedule yet for restoring rail service.
Not all areas over here are wet. One of my properties is in the Olympic's rain shadow and we have 12.73 " rain there so far for the YEAR. Similar to the Cascades rain shadow, but tiny.
That is quite a difference. Are you in the shadow of the Olympics?
One of my properties is, yes.
I am somewhat familiar with the areas affected by the atmospheric river and the subsequent flooding. For the most part NW Washington got off fairly easy compared to BC. In Washington, towns were flooded and people were evacuated and many are now returning to damaged, and in many cases, unlivable homes and destroyed possessions. In BC there are many town that have had the above problems, but with the added burden of destroyed infrastructure. I saw a list of closed highways and all of the major routes into and out of the lower mainland area are closed and impassible. The damage to the the Coquihalla Hwy (BC 5), which is their major highway, will take months to repair, and with winter snows starting, may take well into spring to finish. Away from the lower mainland area, it is all mountain passes or river canyons with steep fast flowing streams and rivers. Throw a combination of heavy rainfall plus warm air temps that melted the early snows and it's a recipe for catastrophe.
Hamilton is a poor town. The people have been offered a buy out at market prices, but that would not be half of what they need to build somewhere else. The city has acquired property on the north side of Hwy 20 out of the flood plain and has a plan to move the city over a period of years. I lived 5 miles from Hamilton and was a member of Hamilton First Baptist Church, when I left the area 3 months ago they had yet to break ground to install streets and utilities. So every time the river floods, the church parking lot becomes a homeless camp for displaced flood victims and the church kitchen and fellowship hall is a relief center.
