If the US routes get destroyed, we would have to airdrop food soon.
Vancouver has a port. Getting a barge there strikes me as a better solution.
There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
141–150 of 477 posts
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#142Will this be a significant impact to most people living in Vancouver?
All land freight can come from the US. COVID doesn't affect this.
International freight will come through port.
Agricultural communities just outside of greater Vancouver are cut off from each other. Canada restricts milk products and eggs, so I expect these will run out. What else do people in Vancouver relay on from the Fraser Valley? Toilet paper?
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
People also died in the back woods a lot more than they do now. There are tons of injuries that go from minor to fatal if you don’t have timely rescue. A rescue beacon or call doesn’t guarantee a good outcome, but it drastically changes the odds.
>People also died in the back woods a lot more than they do now. That certainly could be true although I suspect a lot of people are also less prepared/careful today because they assume they can just call for help. And then they end up with a dead battery, no cell reception, or conditions are just such that rescue is delayed. That said, a cell phone probably should be on your "10 things to carry" list these days. And…
Also, more people are in the back woods these days for recreational purposes rather than pure necessity, which also confounds the numbers. The relationship between safety gear and risk taking attitudes seems to be relatively complicated, and none of the sources I’ve read have managed to pin down whether or not safety equipment reliably produced more risk taking behavior.
Still, if I was in the habit of going further afield than your typical day hiker, or lived in a remote area, I think a rescue beacon would be a minimum requirement. An inReach gives you rescue functionality and GPS, so it’s kind of a win win.
The rumors of a satellite enabled iPhone might change this calculus again. Time will tell on that one.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm surprised there's no shortages yet because trucks can't get to the city. Or does Vancouver import most non-regional goods from the US (and not the rest of Canada) anyway?
It has an airport, a ferry terminal, and a port with a railroad. I suspect trucks are not the main way supplies are delivered.
BC Ferries has a multitude of travel advisories in effect due to the high seas and winds, so reliability is a concern. Vancouver has 2 ferry terminals, and both are subject to the conditions.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#145It looks like rail lines are also cut off. This is kind of a big deal for shipping. Approximately $200 billion goods/year travel through Vancouver, including millions of (metric) tonnes of grain bound for Asia, and imports of Chinese goods bound for the rest of Canada. Most of that traffic now needs to find another route until repairs are made.
Are all of them cut off?
There seem to be four, one north, two along the river, and one south.
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=49.346598...
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#146Unless you drive your car onto a ferry!
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#147People really overestimate how resilient infrastructure is to natural disasters, and such disasters will become more common as the earth warms.
I agree we need to deal with global warming. We also need to continue getting better at dealing with disasters. Thankfully, so far our ability to deal with natural disasters is outpacing the increased frequency.
While Frequency Of Natural Disasters Is Increasing, Related Death Tolls Are Actually Decreasing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimfoerster/2021/10/01/while-fr...
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
That garmin is a cool toy, but pricey ($400 for the device plus $50/mo for unlimited text service). What does your family member do that they have one? It seems like the kind of thing a park ranger would have, or that someone might rent before going on a long hike in a remote area.
What does your family member do that they have one? Goes on a hike and realizes that a lot of BC doesn't have any cell service? I haven't used mine for an actual emergency, but it did come in handy in Yukon with an irreparable motorcycle tire. I mostly use it as a backcountry text message device to let the spouse know I'm not dead, or just general chat if I have messages left. Regardless, "long hike in a remote area"…
There are still some of us who have CB radios (with all their limitations acknowledged) in our vehicles for back country emergency use, and I occasionally see mobile ham radio operators. A Garmin inReach seems like it would be a good addition.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#149For just a bit of context/anecdata, I'm talking to my brother who lives in Vancouver and he wasn't even aware this was a problem. The road closure[0] on hwy 1 near Abbotsford/Chilliwack is a good one hour drive away from Vancouver core[1]. So while it sounds noteworthy for an entire city be technically flooded in, unless you were driving to the boonies, you're probably not actually impacted in any meaningful way. He…
I live in Vancouver and had no idea until a friend in another country saw the news and asked me about it. Not to say people elsewhere in BC weren’t impacted (one town had to evacuate) but the media is not painting an accurate picture.
Yeah, the evacuation order in Abbotsford[0] seems like the real news to me.
[0] https://www.abbotsford.ca/alerts/evacuation-order-and-alerts...
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#150People really overestimate how resilient infrastructure is to natural disasters, and such disasters will become more common as the earth warms.
Exactly. As people over consume and the planet's climate continues to become more erratic and destabilized infrastructure disasters will increase.
Or, rampant incompetence of increasingly all-powerful government functionaries paralyzes more and more of our nation when random events occur.
The capacity to quickly repair roads exists. Call in a major structural steel engineering firm, and give them free reign and a big cheque.
You'll have a bridge over the swirling rapids in 24 hours.
Of course, government workers will be falling to the ground foaming at the mouth -- but that's just a side-benefit.