Emergency crews helped rescue an old horse stuck in the muck under a fence at a horse rescue sanctuary in Maple Ridge on Thursday, a day after a major rain storm.
The horse, named King Arthur, is 25 years old has been staying at J&M Horse Rescue, in the 13400-block of 224th Street.
“His old owners dumped him at a slaughter auction a couple of weeks ago. I bought him by the pound,” said Julie MacMillan, owner of J&M Horse Rescue.
He routinely lays down in the pen and in fields on the property, but because of the mud created by the recent rain, couldn’t get up without assistance on Thrusday.
Crews had to pull and roll him over.
The horse sanctuary is recovering after more than 124 millimetres of rain drenched Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows between Monday and Wednesday.
The heavy downpour had MacMillan working the past three nights, making sure her animals were safe as part of the property was submerged in water, including the main drive.
“It happens a few times a year for the past 21 years,” MacMillan said of local flooding.
“With the rescue horses here, it’s pretty stressful … we were on standby in case we had to pull them out, which was awful because we couldn’t get a trailer up and down the road.”
MacMillan has been in contact with the city regarding the flooding in the area, but solutions are few.
She said diking the area would take up too much land.
“It’s certainly a complex problem, no doubt, but it would be nice to get a solution,” she added.
MacMillan’s home wasn’t the only area in the region to face the surge of heavy rains.
Fred Armstrong, corporate communications with the City of Maple Ridge, said There was some localized flooding on 224th Street, between 132 and 136 avenues, due to the rainfall volumes on Wednesday.
The latter road was closed at approximately 6:30 p.m. and remained so until morning.
He said the rainfall peaked at around 5 p.m. and lasted until 9 p.m.
Armstrong said the city wants to remind residents that flooding at this time of year can be avoided in some situations.
“We put some messages out earlier in the week encouraging citizens to rake leaves and yard debris and put the materials in their composter or organic waste pickup,” said Armstrong.
“Using leaf blowers just puts that debris on the road, where it can reduce road safety and clog the catch basins.”
Rains are expected throughout the weekend, as well as the possibility of lighting.
