Abbotsford, B.C. – <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sumas Prairie area of Abbotsford experienced the most severe and prolonged impact of devastating flooding following last month\u2019s atmospheric river, and now that evacuation orders in the area are being lifted in phases, property owners are getting a look at the full extent of the damage.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mostertman family\u2019s basement is still full of water, but the knee-high level in the main floor of their home has receded to reveal considerable damage to virtually eveyrthing, including precious mementos, and neck-deep floodwaters that inundated their family business have left utter devastation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt almost looks like something from a war zone,\u201d said Caroline Mostertman, as she took CTV News on a tour of the muddy property that once housed a rustic chic tasting room for the Ripples Estate Winery, an idyllic antique barn-themed wedding venue, a plant nursery and a distillery.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe shattered Christmas decorations, filthy stemware, waterlogged antiques and mouldering period costumes are just some of the losses. Bottle after bottle of ruined wine and spirits will almost all be destroyed, and the family expects the blueberry bushes and grape vines are also lost.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not just the physical damage, but the future damage, because we have no immediate inventory (to sell) and with our 20 acres of blueberry fields that\u2019ve been underwater for two weeks, those plants won\u2019t have survived,\u201d said Mosterman. \u201cThe grapes and blueberries, we have to replant and it\u2019ll be five years before we get anything out of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Christmas season, which accounts for a third of their revenue, is a write-off. Dozens of full-time employees have been laid off, and the family is now relying on a handful of remaining staff, friends and volunteers to help them clean up.<\/p>\n

\n\tENTIRE FAMILY IMPACTED BY FLOODING AND SLIDES<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\n\tCaroline and Paul co-own the winery and venue, but their daughter\u2019s distillery \u2013 New Wave Distilling \u2013 is also on the property, and her equipment was badly damaged.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBeing a modernized still, everything was electronic, but our entire control panel got sunk underwater and there\u2019s still water (from the flood) in the still,\u201d said Kelsey Mostertman. \u201cAll the tanks that\u2019d been filled with alcohol lifted up and the nozzles broke and any alcohol we had in here as lost \u2026 Due to pandemic supply issues, we had to give up most of our glass bottle tops and switch to cork and all those bottles are spoiled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKelsey\u2019s brother was caught up in a slide that pushed his car into a river, while Paul and one of the family\u2019s longtime staffers were trapped by the landslide near Hope. Caroline was by herself when the waters started rising over the property they\u2019ve owned and farmed for 40 years.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a desperate move, she threw a wire mesh over Paul\u2019s prized koi fish \u2013 some of which were 20 years old and two feet long \u2013 but they swam away in the metres-deep floodwaters. Hard-earned equipment and products became debris and detritus still strewn around acreages and the sides of the roads, where many of the ditches remain full of water.<\/p>\n

\n\tA LONG RECOVERY AHEAD<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\n\tThe winery, like many of the farms and small businesses on the Sumas Prarie, is ineligible for the current flood relief programs offered by the provincial government and was uninsured. Caroline Mostertman is optimistic there will be help coming in some form, but in the meantime, the family is working round-the-clock to do what they can to pull themselves back up.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCrying doesn\u2019t help,\u201d said Mostertman. \u201cWe\u2019ll be back next summer. I have a deadline because May is my first wedding. I will have this ready by then.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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