The flooding caused by record-breaking rain in November 2021 shut down every route to the rest of Canada and made it impossible for Dyck to make the 25-minute drive from his home in Chilliwack to the dialysis unit of the Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
A 2022 Environment Canada study suggested that climate change made the B.C. floods at least twice as likely and it's possible that similar events will increase as greenhouse gases keep entering the atmosphere. "Our units are already over capacity and we actually requested the help of neighbouring units that are not affiliated with us," Sandal said.
"They're saying, 'Have a contingency plan, have a communication plan, have a network within your region, so that if you have to accommodate extra patients, you can do it. Have a disaster co-ordinator in each region.'" "That might mean every health authority is looking at their capacity to take patients," Thomas said. "We offer that support to the health authorities, which are busy taking care of patients."