Mario Loutef had little sleep the four days leading up to Saturday, when he piled his ruined belongings in the street outside his home in Princeton, B.C.
A vast swath of the downtown in the community two hours south of Kamloops was decimated when the Tulameen River overflowed its banks, flooding homes and forcing people to evacuate.
The community still remains on an evacuation alert but for many, like Loutef, the damage couldnB次元官网网址檛 get any worse.
B次元官网网址淚t turned the corner and then it was like a tsunami because it filled up the little streets on the way here. But once those were taken care of thatB次元官网网址檚 when the water took care of my space and everybody else on the road,B次元官网网址� he told The Canadian Press.
A thick coat of black mud has covered everything on the first floor of the home. Loutef has working around the clock since he was allowed access. Boards have been ripped off walls, a dirty line about 2 metres up on the wall shows how deep the water was.
B次元官网网址淚 lost everything. We lost everything, the wife and I. I donB次元官网网址檛 know where to start. I donB次元官网网址檛 know where itB次元官网网址檚 going to end,B次元官网网址� said Loutef who has lived in the home for the past four years.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 trying to save my tools, which is my bread and butter because if I donB次元官网网址檛 have that I canB次元官网网址檛 make the revenue. IB次元官网网址檓 pretty much in the slopB次元官网网址un intended.B次元官网网址�
Streets in the area are closed to traffic. Suction trucks are trying to remove standing water from some basements. The streets and sidewalks are covered in mud.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like a one man battle,B次元官网网址� said Loutef, who was working alone.
B次元官网网址淚 remember my wife saying, B次元官网网址楧onB次元官网网址檛 forget to remove your shoes,B次元官网网址� so IB次元官网网址檓 going to have to show her. She didnB次元官网网址檛 want to come down here because sheB次元官网网址檚 undergoing a shock. She said no smoking in the house too,B次元官网网址� he said, flicking a cigarette butt onto the floor.
Piles of debris can be seen everywhere, but Lisa Brosseau and her husband Brian Quinn had friends come over to help.
Brosseau said despite having their basement flooded she feels lucky because a previous owner had raised the home after a flood 35 years ago.
B次元官网网址淲e had a new Airbnb suite and thatB次元官网网址檚 gone, but the rest of our house is good. It never came into the top. We have our house. Many people around here donB次元官网网址檛 and itB次元官网网址檚 really difficult,B次元官网网址� Brosseau said.
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Quinn pointed out where the water entered the basement.
B次元官网网址淵ou can see it came down the back door and blew the door open and ripped the doorframe apart, and inside it swirled like some sort of vortex, and everything was all wrapped up and wrecked,B次元官网网址� Quinn said pointing into the basement.
B次元官网网址淭he power of water is unbelievable.B次元官网网址�
Brosseau said she was worried there was going to be a flood despite sandbagging efforts and saw it happen.
B次元官网网址淲e were right down the street and there was a boom and a pop and it came over the banks,B次元官网网址� she said.
Many residents of Princeton were going from house to house offering a hand to those who were not so lucky.
B次元官网网址淥ur town is amazing,B次元官网网址� said Britanny Antonick.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 devastating. I think itB次元官网网址檚 just all shock right now still. All the basements are just all completely saturated. WeB次元官网网址檙e just trying to do the best we can.B次元官网网址�
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
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