Shovels and determination: Spences Bridge family rebuilds farm after devastating floods - Action News
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British Columbia

Shovels and determination: Spences Bridge family rebuilds farm after devastating floods

A family in Spences Bridge say theyre determined to rebuild a large portion of their property by stabilizing a piece of land that was once home to an orchard and a chicken coop before it was swept away by flooding last November.

The river ate our farm, but were going to make it green again, says Brandie Coutts

Brandie and Michael Coutts, and their young daughter Luna, are working to stabilize a part of their property that was swept away by floodwaters last November in the community of Spence's Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Michael Brandie Coutts Facebook page)

For the past few weeks, Brandie, Michael, and their young daughter Luna have been unrolling long sheets of burlap and staking willow tree cuttings into a steep, loose dirt bank on their property.

The family of three own a small farm in the community of Spences Bridge, B.C., one of dozens of properties near Highway 8 that weredamaged by horrific floods last November.

After five months of staying with friends in nearby Ashcroft, the family say they'redetermined to rebuild a large portion of their property, home to an orchard and a chicken coop, by stabilizing the bank.

"It was thriving, and it is gone. It's a beach now. Everything that was on it is totally scattered to the four winds," Brandie Coutts told the CBC's Radio West Thursday.

Highway 8 through the community is still undergoing repairs, after a long stretch of the road was lost to the raging river.

In late March, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said he couldn't provide an estimate forwhen the highway would reopen but more information would be released in the coming months in partnership with the federal government.

Brandie Coutts sits on a torn piece of Highway 8, on her farm property in Spence's Bridge (Photo courtesy of Michael Brandie Coutts Facebook page)

Coutts said the family can still only access their farm and haul supplies by helicopter, and they've been making week-long trips to their property, while they rebuild.

Coutts said a helicopter pilot with Valley Helicopters, who hadvisitedtheir farmsteadfor years, "endeared" himself to the family and has been offering free helicopter rides, given their home lies in the direction he flies each day.

"The river ate our farm," said Coutts, "[and] we're helicopter hitchhikers."

Creating a 'micro climate' on the hillside

Coutts said the three are embarking on a massive project to create a "micro climate" on the collapsed hillside, which at first took quite a physical toll on the family.

She said the flooding has loosened the soil, so they've been planting rows of willows and cottonwood trees with hopes the roots will take hold, knit the soil togetherand stabilize the bank.

The Coutts family has been planting willow cuttings deep into the bank, in hopes that their roots will take hold and knit the loose soil together. (Michael Brandie Coutts/Facebook)

"The slope is about 45 feet from top to beach," explained Coutts, adding that if they didn't take action the unstable slope would keep edging back and they'd potentially lose more of their land.

"You plant (a lot of trees) as they're not all going to be able to survive," said Coutts.

She said the family has received generous financial and emotional support from the community for the past few months.

"GoFundMe has been amazing. It's quite tremendous and it just warms your heart," she exclaimed, noting she and her husband also filled paperwork for Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) back in Decemberand are awaiting a visit from a government worker to assess their property for government aid.

During the floods, the Coutts and other families along the river had to airlift their animals from their farms to safety, including Tina, theirpregnant Jersey cow.

A large section of the Coutt's land, which once held orchard trees and a chicken coop, was swept away by the Nicola River in November, leaving a steep-sloping, unstable bank in its wake. (Photo courtesy of Michael Brandie Coutts Facebook page)

Coutts told CBC she's determined to make her home everything that it once was.

"We call it our permaculture paradise ... It makes us feel amazing to be [here] and to work with our hands," she explained.

"It's our little slice of heaven. It's a bit narrower of a slice now, but it's still heaven."

With files from Adam van der Zwan, Sarah Penton, Yvette Brend, and the Canadian Press.