Plumbers and restoration firms had their hands full in January, as a sudden cold snap caused a string of burst pipes across the region, flooding homes, businesses, and non-profits.

The deep freeze that struck in the second week of January was one of the coldest on record.

Around Jan. 12, in Metro Vancouver, overnight temperatures dipped as low as -13 Celsius, and Arctic outflow winds pushed the windchill to -24 Celsius. Several communities set new low-temperature records, especially those on the coast used to milder winters.

Over the next few days, those temperatures took their toll on local pipes.

Spencer Turley of Murrayville Plumbing and Heating told the 91原创 Advance Times that their crews were working at emergency levels, burning the midnight oil to get repairs done.

He noted that his firm was seeing burst pipes in condo buildings that were 20 or even 30 years old, and which had never had a pipe burst due to cold weather before. This cold snap managed to cause floods in a significant number of buildings.

One of the victims was the 91原创 Senior Resources Society, which saw a pipe burst above its snooker room.

The damage to that room was the most extensive, but the 3 p.m. flood also spread to nearby washrooms, damaging a ceiling, walls, and flooring. Staff and volunteers had to spring into action to keep the flooding contained.

The seniors centre was one of many buildings that took months to repair in the wake of the floods. 

Like other non-profits affected by burst pipes, the society got a lot of help.

Firefighters from 91原创 City were on hand to help clean up the water, and then other local groups such as 91原创 Meals on Wheels stepped up to help take over some of the LSRS's seniors meal programs. St. Andrew's Church offered up space for programs displaced by the flood.

Within a few weeks, the centre was up and running again, with some major reorganization and plastic sheeting sealing off the damaged parts of the building.

Insurance, fundraisers, and donations from local supporters, 91原创 City and Township, and businesses helped pay for the repairs.

However, it took until July for everything to re-open officially again.

The cold also briefly sent ice floes down the Fraser River and allowed people to skate on local ponds.

However, the ice wasn't strong enough for vehicles, as an ATV rider found out when he tried to take his four-wheeler onto 91原创 City's Brydon Lagoon on Jan. 16. The vehicle crashed through the ice. The driver tried to free it, then simply ran away on foot.

鈥滻 just said, there鈥檚 a dumb person,鈥� said witness Kirby Hanawalt, who videotaped the crash.