Flooding continued to rage in British Columbia on Sunday, as the province’s north coast expects heavy rainfall in the coming days.
100 to 150 mm of rain fell in the Prince Rupert area until Monday morning. In the Haida Gwaïi area, 30 to 60 mm of rain are expected.
Environment Canada estimates that landslides and flooding could occur in northern British Columbia. The storm is then expected to move to the south of the province, already affected by flooding.
Victoria resident Marine Joly chose to go on vacation with her friend from Vancouver to the Okanagan Valley. The duo faced road closures when they set out on their way home on November 14.
The hotels in the area were all full, so citizens slept in lobbies. Marine and her friend have found a hotel, the Manning Park Ski Resort, which had a makeshift dormitory. “They installed mattresses with clean sheets in a meeting room in their [sous-sol]. We slept in a dormitory with a hundred people, ”Marine told Press Sunday, while she was still on the road.
The next day, the managers of the hotel asked that people leave the premises because the establishment was running out of food and gasoline.
Marine was able to benefit from the support of help centers and was staying with people she contacted on social media until the roads were opened again.
Rationed gasoline and employment insurance
Since Friday, the BC government has been rationing gasoline in the Vancouver area, which has been hit by a severe storm. A limit of 30 liters of gasoline per visit to the gas station is imposed on citizens.
PHOTO JONATHAN HAYWARD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
A limit of 30 liters of gasoline per visit to the gas station is imposed on citizens in the Vancouver area
Remember that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) found the remains of three men near Highway 99. A total of four people have died since the onset of bad weather in British Columbia.
According to Federal Defense Minister Anita Anand, some 500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to the province to assist the population.
PHOTO JONATHAN HAYWARD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces fill sandbags at the Chawathil First Nation, near Hope, British Columbia.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough on Sunday suggested residents of British Columbia apply for EI as soon as possible when needed, even though they usually don’t. access.
The minister stressed that the federal government would not require a record of employment, as some people cannot access it under current conditions.
Mme Qualtrough encourages people who have exhausted their EI entitlements with knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic to apply anyway. The federal government will “settle the matter” one way or another, she said.
With The Canadian Press