(Vancouver) British Columbia braces for more rain after mudslides and flooding devastated parts of the province.
Environment Canada predicts that up to 150 millimeters of rain could flood the central coast of British Columbia and parts of Vancouver Island through Wednesday, possibly causing water to accumulate on roads and flooding in the areas. low areas.
Up to 60 millimeters are forecast for Vancouver and Abbotsford, with up to 80 millimeters expected over sections of the Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver, including Surrey and Langley, and up to 120 millimeters near the mountains of the north coast and Squamish.
Snowmelt could increase runoff and flooding as milder temperatures are expected at higher elevations.
Avalanche Canada says the powerful storms of the past two weeks have created dangerous conditions in most of British Columbia’s mountain ranges.
The organization issued a warning indicating an “increasingly dangerous avalanche cycle” as a system of atmospheric rivers brings snow followed by heavy rains to many areas.
Avalanche Canada rates avalanche risk from high to extreme on the south and northwest coasts and mountains of eastern British Columbia, from Chetwynd south to Castlegar.
People should stay away from places at risk because avalanches “are expected to descend to the end of the valley with the arrival of this third atmospheric river,” the organization said.
Each of the three weather systems that have hit the province since mid-November have dumped large amounts of snow at higher elevations before turning to rain. Environment Canada says the latest storm will push the freezing level to 3,000 meters above sea level, causing snow to melt in addition to the rain that is forecast for British Columbia.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said his department is carefully monitoring conditions in the hard-hit areas of Merritt and Abbotsford, but is also focusing on the flood and landslide dangers facing d other coastal communities, especially the Bella Coola Valley.
In the Abbotsford area, flooding from previous storms has already devastated lowland farming, but Mayor Henry Braun said on Monday his community had reinforced dikes and protected infrastructure.
Water levels in the Nooksack River in Washington state were slowly declining on Tuesday, relieving pressure on dikes that protect highways and farmland on the Canadian side of the border, Mayor Braun said.