Extreme flooding in southern British Columbia has caused mudslides, landslides, closure to main arterial routes and devastation to communities. Tragically, already one person has died and authorities are expecting more. The loss of agricultural livestock due to the rising floodwaters is estimated to be in the thousands, if not more. Thousands of homes have been lost, the most affected regions have been without power and essential resources for days, and another storm is on the way expected to bring up to 100mm of rain. B.C. needs your help today.
See below for a list of Foodgrains Bank members responding locally to the B.C. floods:
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
- The Salvation Army
- The Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA)
- Mennonite Central Committee BC (MCC)
- Primate’s World Relief and Development Foundation (PWRDF)
- Presbyterian World Service & Development (PWS&D)
- Emergency Relief and Development Overseas (ERDO) – responding through the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada church network
- Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR)
- Nazarene Compassionate Ministries – please specify “B.C. disaster relief” with donation
Our members are doing an incredible job responding locally to immediate needs in southwestern B.C. and we encourage you to support them in any way you can.
“It’s devastating to see the impact of flooding in my community, and the communities that surround us,” says Foodgrains Bank executive director Andy Harrington, who lives in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. “People have been shocked at the scale of the damage, but they are resilient and are doing all they can to get back on their feet. We’re so grateful some of our Foodgrains Bank members are mobilizing to help with the localized response here in B.C.”
Join us in prayer for British Columbia:
There is so much beauty from sea to sky,
on roads that twist and turn
along the sides of mountains,
where one can look down from dizzying heights
into valleys that are lush and green,
or into ocean waters, salty, and full of life;
and look up to see mountain peaks
that have stood, sturdy, far longer
than humankind has walked your earth, God!
But when the rains come down,
hard and fast,
turning the soil into liquid slurry,
tonnes upon tonnes of rock and mud will move
with an unimaginable force,
and the rivers rise, flooding more than the plains,
sweeping over and away everything in its path.
Nothing human-made can stand
in the face of that force,
God of all creation.
That is what the people of British Columbia
have been facing, these past days,
with loss of life;
with communities cut off from each other,
some lacking power,
some in places already touched by fire
this season.
We pray for those who have died or been injured,
and all those who are grieving;
we pray for the crews who are out,
trying to figure out how to clear the way,
safely;
we pray for those who are in need,
and those who are wondering, “What next?!”;
and we pray that we would come together
as this community of Canada,
to offer what support is needed.
And, God, we pray that the rains would quiet,
to their normal, seasonal, flow;
that the land would remain sturdy,
that we would be held by its beauty,
once again.
Amen.
—Moderator Richard Bott, United Church of Canada
