(Vancouver) RCMP have reported four people missing after a mudslide on Highway 99 near Lillooet, British Columbia.
A woman’s body was discovered earlier this week after a landslide caused by record 48-hour rainfall.
RCMP spokeswoman Dawn Roberts said she expects the death toll to increase once the search begins in specific areas of the landslide site.
She urged anyone concerned about the disappearance of a loved one to contact the RCMP.
Crews continue to search debris left by landslides along Highway 99 near Lillooet and Highway 7 near Agassiz, to determine if any vehicles are stuck under the mud.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces began arriving in British Columbia on Thursday, the first contingent of several hundred troops promised by Trudeau to help the province recover from devastating floods and mudslides.
British Columbia’s agriculture minister said authorities were prioritizing food and water supplies to farms cut off by transportation routes.
Lana Popham said helicopters from the fire department were helping efforts to drop containers on farms and fill them with water.
She said officials diverted food found at the Port of Vancouver that was destined for China and received offers of help from Washington state and several provinces.
Defense Minister Anita Anand said 120 Canadian Forces soldiers were arriving in Abbotsford from Edmonton on Thursday evening to help with relief efforts.
She said thousands of Canadian Forces members are currently on standby and ready to deploy to British Columbia if necessary.
Mme Anand said about 160 military personnel are also preparing to leave Edmonton for British Columbia, with a convoy of military vehicles and equipment.
She said the military will help with evacuation efforts, support activities and monitor infrastructure and properties.
Supply chains
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said he had held talks with industry officials virtually in a bid to get BC’s crippled supply chains back up and running as quickly as possible.
He said talks are also underway with Canadian and US border officials to reach a tentative deal allowing truckers to detour through border crossings to reach their destinations.
Mr. Alghabra said recent landslides and flooding have shut down the province’s main transportation routes and the priority is to restore connections.
He said he met with representatives from CN and CP railways, the Port of Vancouver and the trucking industry on Thursday.
Repair dikes before further rains
The mayor of Abbotsford, the community hardest hit by flooding in British Columbia, says dikes in the Fraser Valley need urgent repairs, as more rain is forecast next week and that a river in neighboring Washington state always pushes water north.
Showers were expected Thursday, but Mayor Henry Braun was more worried about next week’s forecast. “From 80 to 100 mm of rain are expected from Tuesday,” he said Thursday morning at a press conference. “That’s what concerns me, if we don’t fix the breaches in the dikes by then. ”
The Nooksack River in Washington state to the south raised water levels an additional six inches, Mayor Braun said, although a pumping station was releasing 2.2 million gallons per minute. “We are a long way from what we would have to pump to compensate for all the water that comes from the other side of the border. The mayor has also indicated that he will speak Thursday with the governor of the state of Washington, Jay Inslee.
Mayor Braun says he has already mentioned to Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and John Horgan, as well as other provincial ministers, that the bill would be steep. “They said the province would be there for us, but when you start doing the math, you quickly go up to $ 1 billion, in my opinion. ”
The mayor of Abbotsford recalls that the City had estimated a few years ago at 400 million the costs to rebuild the dikes which were broken this week.
For now, he said work is underway to repair a water pipe so that farmers who have not been affected by the flooding can water their animals. “We’re doing everything we can to find these leaks under four or five feet of water and fix them. It is not an easy task, ”he said. Of the 20,000 head of cattle in the flooded area, Mayor Braun has heard that around 2,000 animals have died.
Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr told this press conference that around 40 people were still in the area covered by an evacuation order, as water levels continued to fluctuate. “You endanger our first responders, our rescue services by staying there. So please leave the area, ”Mr. Serr asked.
The army as reinforcements
On Thursday morning, Canadian Joint Operations Command announced that nine members of the 3e Canadian Division, based in Edmonton, had arrived to coordinate future efforts on the ground.
Other soldiers are on high alert and can be deployed as soon as the forward team and the provincial government determine where. A Hercules plane has taken off from Base Trenton, Ontario, while a Griffon helicopter from Edmonton and a Cyclone from Naval Base Esquimalt on Vancouver Island may also be involved.
The Horgan government declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in response to flooding and landslides that began Sunday after record-breaking rainfall flooded much of the southern part of the province for more than 48 hours.
Premier Horgan said travel restrictions will be in place to ensure essential goods and medical and emergency services can reach affected communities.
Efforts were underway Thursday to help stranded travelers get to their destinations in flooded areas in the south of the province. A special VIA Rail train carried about 200 stranded travelers from Hope to Vancouver overnight Thursday.