Hogs and chickens survive Pemberton flood as farmers survey damage to crops
North Arm Farm's owners managed to rescue their livestock, but concerns loom over submerged crops
When farmer Emma Sturdy noticed that the Lillooet river was rising, she knew she had to act fast.
The river runs behind her family's North Arm Farm, and within a half hour, the water overcame the banks of the river.
Eight hours later, parts of the farm were more than a meter below water.
Sturdy and her crew had little time to relocate all their animals and equipment onto a large mound — a compacted pile of dirt and hay — that was erected after a similar flood devastated the farm in the early 90s.
"When you have to move 25 pallets of vegetables, remove our hydro pumps... get all our machines on top of the mound, and move all our animals — it's really a big task," said Sturdy.
Rescue efforts included shuffling chickens out of a coop on a rowboat to the mound as the flooding started to threaten the livestock.
"It seems a bit ridiculous, but I'm glad we did it because we would have lost a lot of chickens."
At one point, Pemby — a giant hog named after the music festival, where she was rescued from a dumpster — was sitting safe and sound atop the mound before attempting to swim back to her pen out of sheer panic and homesickness, says Sturdy.
"It was just exceptional — the water was freezing and this pig was just so determined to go back home.... it was pretty crazy to see."
All the animals were saved in the flood, but the same cannot be said for the North Arm Farm's crops, as rows of garlic and artichokes remain submerged.
Sturdy says it's too early to know the full extent of the damage, but that it is far from minimal. She hopes the city's dyke system will eventually be extended to protect areas outside of the town's centre.
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