(Vancouver) A new evacuation order has been issued for a section of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
A social media post from Abbotsford Police said all residents living on the Sumas Prairie, up to the Chilliwack border, must immediately vacate the area. The water levels in this region are rising very rapidly.
The social media post says anyone who can’t go west should travel east to Chilliwack and take refuge at the local high school.
Environment Canada said Tuesday that 20 precipitation records were set on Sunday as an “atmospheric river” flowed through southern British Columbia.
The eastern Fraser Valley has been one of the hardest hit areas: the weather agency says Hope, Abbotsford and Agassiz all received at least 100mm of rain on November 14.
Hope, with 174mm of rain, recorded the highest record of the day, while the 127.3mm that fell at Agassiz broke a record set in 1896.
Environment Canada reports that between 11 a.m. Saturday and 11 p.m. Monday evening, 24 communities across the province received more than 100 mm of rain. Agassiz, Chilliwack, Coquihalla Summit and Squamish received over 200mm and Hope 252mm.
Rescue teams are now focusing on two roads in British Columbia where vehicles may have been washed away by mudslides in torrential rains since Saturday.
Witnesses reported seeing vehicles struck by mud west of Vancouver on Highway 7 near Agassiz on Sunday.
Drivers stranded by a landslide on Highway 99 between Lillooet and Pemberton on Monday also reported that vehicles were engulfed when a second landslide occurred about 40 km south of Lillooet.
No casualties or disappearances were reported for the moment Tuesday morning.