A whole lot of wind and a whole lot of rain kicked off 2021 for residents in Agassiz and Harrison.
Overnight on Tuesday (Jan. 12) huge gusts of wind ripped through the area, resulting in nearly 4,000 homes entering the morning without power. Power was out for most homes throughout the day.
RELATED: Nearly 4,000 without power in Harrison, Agassiz
Trees were down on roads throughout the community. Residents posted in local Facebook groups that power lines were down on Rockwell Drive this morning, with a fallen tree resting on top of them. Centennial Park also saw three of its trees ripped from the ground overnight.
Despite the heavy winds, rain was the defining weather for the first two weeks of the year.
In the first 11 days of 2021, Agassiz saw 135.8 mm of precipitation. Although this is by no means a record — 1987 saw 112.8 mm of rain on Jan. 3 alone — it is making for a wet start to the year.
RELATED: Rainfall warning issued for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley
Many low-lying areas of Kent, Harrison Mills and Harrison Hot Springs are seeing water levels rise. Some farmyards are finding parts of their fields underwater, and water levels in local ditches are inching towards the tops of their banks.
All this rain is raising water levels around the community.
Harrison Lake is hovering at around 9.8m this year, compared to 9.5m at the same time last year. The Fraser River is also marginally higher: 3.8m this year in Hope compared to 3.4m last year.
The Harrison River at Harrison Mills was at its lowest point this time last year at 5.9m, but this year is sitting at 7.2m — close to its June high of 11.6m.
Have photos you want to share with your community? Email us at news@ahobserver.com with your images to have them featured in our community camera section.
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:
news@ahobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.