‘Take a breath, it’ll be okay’: message to residents amid supply chain concerns

• Grocery stores seeing supplies run dry
• Govt. asks public to be patient
• Supply routes from east to west are problem-free

While landslide damage to B.C.’s highways will bring challenges and inevitable delays, the head of the British Columbia’s Truckers says there’s no need for panic.

There has already been a run on grocery stores in Kelowna and elsewhere in the province with shelves being depleted of goods.

“The main thing is that we take a breath, recognize where we are, it’ll be okay, and it will get there,” B.C. Trucking President Dave Earle told Kelowna10. “The supply chain will function, we will find a way to get the goods to where they need to be, that’s what we do.”

Earle added supplies will be transported by train and by road through distribution centers elsewhere in North America.

“We’re in touch with the railways seeing when they’re coming back, we got routes that can go south, north, through California and through Alberta but the goods will get there,” he said.

With the recent run of weather-related disasters this year, Earle noted they've never seen things mount up quite like this.

“We’ve seen washouts, we’ve seen rail bridges burn, forest fires devastate communities and shut down highways, we just haven’t seen it all at once,” he said. “That’s what sets this apart, there has been so much in so many places at the same time.”

Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth, said in a news conference Tuesday, people need to be patient despite the challenges on Highways 1, 3 and 5, and there are still lots of supplies.

“In the north and the Interior, the rail links from Kamloops to the rest of Canada are operating, the truck routes from east to west across northern B.C. through Alberta to bring goods and supplies in are operating,” he said.

The government announced the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt has sustained damage to five structures with multiple washouts on the route, which will require significant repairs before traffic can move on it again. There is no estimate for when it will open.

Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming said a high priority is getting Highway 3 passable, which he noted looks to be the quickest route to open sooner than later.

“We fully recognize how important it is right now in British Columbia to re-open the road connections from the Lower Mainland to the Interior to get supply chains moving again,” Fleming said.