Squamish, B.C. — Collision repair and other aftermarket professionals across southwestern British Columbia say persistent rainfall is causing major problems for travel and increasing the number of tow-ins, but is not leading to major operational issues.
The December storms represent the latest in a series of severe weather events that have battered the province this fall. Beginning December 8, southwestern B.C. was hit by what meteorologists call an atmospheric river—a concentrated band of moisture in the atmosphere that releases heavy rain when it hits land.
The storm delivered 80 to 110 millimetres across the Fraser Valley, closed all highways connecting the Lower Mainland to the interior on December 10, and forced evacuations of approximately 400 properties in Abbotsford and Chilliwack.
The combination of severe weather conditions and the holiday season appears to be leading many British Columbians to reduce the amount of time they spend behind the wheel.
In the Fraser Valley, Lou Benz, sales manager at Empire Abbotsford Recycled Auto & Truck Parts, said business activity has remained steady despite the weather.
"Everything is actually going pretty smoothly here," Benz said. "I think it's the time of year — people won't travel unless they have to."
That reduction in discretionary travel appears to be limiting collision volumes even as road conditions worsen. At Craftsman Collision Abbotsford Central, general manager Ryan Bird said the shop itself has avoided major flooding issues, but travel conditions have been challenging. "Our location is actually pretty high, so we've had a bit of localized flooding on our roof, but it isn't causing too much of a problem," Bird said. "It has made it difficult to travel."
Bird said weather-related congestion recently turned his commute to Chilliwack into a four-hour trip. While repair volumes have not surged, tow-ins have increased. "We've seen a large uptick in tow-ins," he said. "Most of it is being caused by people not paying attention to the altered speed zones and driving too fast."
The observation aligns with data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia showing that crashes due to driving too fast for conditions typically surge 90 percent province-wide when comparing October to December. In the Southern Interior, such crashes jump 208 percent during this period, while the Lower Mainland sees a 50 percent increase.
Along the Sea to Sky corridor, Pritpal Hans of Bryan's Auto Body in Squamish said the rainfall has not significantly disrupted shop operations but has contributed to more driver issues. "It's rain and we're on the coast — so we get a lot of it," Hans said.
"It's causing more problems for drivers than for the business."
