Bruce Langhus was interviewed by the CBC this morning. It served as a reminder that we need to still be helping people with information on flood recovery and flood mitigation.
The causes of the 2018 and 2019 spring freshets are explained in this You Tube video, Flooding in New Brunswick: Cause and Effect. It answers my questions. Jasmin Boisvert is a water resources specialist. He may be understated on the role of deforestation and flooding but his other factors, however, seem spot-on. Addressing the effect of the Mactaquac Dam and river control is the best explanation I have heard. His explanation of not using the answer of “climate change” to explain the flooding was satisfying to me.
Please watch the video through along with the discussion at the end for an understanding of the flood season in NB.
I often entertain myself with factors to predict the flood season but this shows how complex the determination is in reality.
Two interviews with CTV Atlantic, The Fredericton Gleaner, The Globe and Mail, and Narwhal. All of this coverage for a “non-event”. News reporters showed their concern for Lang House (me and Bruce) in investigating how we were preparing for the flood in light of the COVID-19 threat and imposition. During the first interview by CTV, COVID-19 was not an immediate threat. I spoke only of how we had prepared Lang House for future floods with the basement, walls, and floor advancements. It was too early to make any flood predictions.
- Early interview about preparation
- Interview about dealing with flood prep and COVID-19
- CBC interview on flood 2020 (same as Gleaner article)
- Globe and Mail article on flood prediction
- Narwhal on comparing BC flooding, mentions Gagetown at the end
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/warm-temperatures-spark-concern-for-early-flood-season-in-n-b-1.4836817
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1938823
https://thenarwhal.ca/amid-coronavirus-pandemic-some-b-c-communities-brace-for-flooding-as-well/
By the time CTV would normally be interviewing us about the flood threat, we were under the maximum of COVID-19 restrictions. Our interviewer and I practiced every thing short of me wearing a mask during the interview. She was at least six feet away. We know how to make the house flood-safe with the moving of furniture and appliances. It has almost become a choreographed episode in our hearts. Our main concern was our safety if we had to evacuate. I called the Days Inn in Oromocto where we stayed in 2019 for eleven days and they assured me that they were open for business and had increased the housekeeping appropriately and were screening guests for COVID-19 symptoms. Fortunately for us, a friend who owns a house and barn in the village area offered us an opportunity to rent for as long as we needed. Based on 2018 and 2019 that could have been as long as a month!
As the river (creek) waters began to rise, my next door neighbor and I were talking on the phone and she asked me (for her husband) what I thought of the flood situation this year, would we flood again. I took the question seriously and said that I preferred to answer after I had time to review my data. I then had the idea that I would prepare for him, Robert Corbett, Former Member of Parliament, a proper report with data, diagrams, photos, links, and references specific to the prediction of the flood. At first it was more of a fun thing to do but then I got serious and by the time I was nearly finished, a calm come over me, I realized that with all of the data that I had assembled and integrated, I could not see how a flood of the magnitude of 2018 and 2018 could possibly happen.
I was not finished my last avenue of investigation and I was taken with an urge for a nap. I was awakened shortly thereafter with a phone call from Greg Mercer from the Globe and Mail Halifax division asking me what I thought of the flood waters this year. I talked to him a while, admittedly I was a little punchy thinking how awesomely funny it was to be asked this question when I had just spent days assembling my take on the matter. It was mid afternoon and I asked him to wait until the next morning so that I could finish my report. It was ready by noon and he used it in an article. I thought he could have made me sound more adamant that I did not believe a flood was pending but he was saving me from embarrassment if I was indeed “full of it – wrong!”
A week or so later, the newspaper, Narwhal from Vancouver called. By this time it looked like my prediction was holding and we would not have to evacuate in the restricted conditions needed for safety in the COVID-19 crisis. The reporter was using our experience in the Village of Gagetown to round out a story on communities in British Columbia who were anticipating their flood season.
The following is the report that I made for Robert Corbett that was referenced in the Globe and Mail and Narwhal.
In this series of older interviews you can see how our understand has progressed and how we have more to learn.
In a May 2017 interview, CTV’s Nick Moore interviewed Marian Langhus before the big rains. As it turned out, the deck that she is standing on got taken away in a storm and floated down river to the Village Green where it serves as a stage for musicians on Market Days. You see that Marian is concerned but she has no idea what was coming.
http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1116275
CTV Mike Cameron interviewed us in the early flood stage of 2018, we had no idea that the largest flood of all time was about to happen.
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1382601
CTV Mike Cameron recorded the reconstruction of the living room at Lang House.
With the announcement of the High and Dry Festival, CTV visits Lang House to check up on the rebuilding process.
CTV Nick Moore showing Lang House during the High and Dry prep with interviews of both Marian and Bruce Langhus.
CTV Interview with Bruce and Marian by Nick Moore on September 6 showing that we were back in business. It includes pictures of the flood damage and the new repairs.
Leave a Reply