(Vancouver) The body of a woman was found in a mudslide on Highway 99 near Lillooet, British Columbia, following historic rainfall in the province, RCMP said.
Police said rescue personnel are continuing their search while the coroners’ service is also investigating.
Sergeant Janelle Shoihet said the total number of missing people and lost vehicles has yet to be confirmed, but investigators have received reports of two more people missing.
“We ask anyone who has witnessed the event or who believes their loved one is missing and has not yet been able to contact them to contact RCMP units in Pemberton or Lillooet,” she said in a written statement.
David MacKenzie, Pemberton District Search and Rescue Director, has confirmed two deaths in the mudslide, about 42 kilometers south of Lillooet.
“Our team has been able to recover a couple of people so far, but the rescue operation is still ongoing and I can’t really say more,” he added, although he was not. still clear whether the death of the woman confirmed by the RCMP was among the two new victims.
Teams were called to the scene around noon Monday and the search is continuing.
Several people were able to get out of their cars, MacKenzie said, adding that search conditions were difficult and heavy equipment would be needed to remove large debris blocking passage on the Mountain Highway.
“It’s a lot of mud, debris, rocks, trees, broken trees. When a mudslide falls, it is obviously very important and it involves slipping through the mud, it is quite difficult ”.
A rescue operation for anyone who may have been buried by two landslides is also underway in the area of Highway 7 near Agassiz. About 300 people spent the night in their vehicles and were transported by helicopter to safety on Monday.
Jonathan Gormick, chief information officer with Vancouver’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, said that if the roadway is clear of vehicles or people who could be trapped, the teams’ efforts will go hand in hand. focus on landslides.
Provincial Premier John Horgan said the tragedy caused by the unprecedented rains had left “sadness in my heart.”
Speaking from his desk at a virtual event, Horgan said the impact of the “rain river” over a record 24-hour period reflected the ravages of climate change.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said cabinet ministers will meet on Wednesday to consider the option of declaring a province-wide state of emergency.
He added that provisions and materials like food, cots and blankets would be delivered to the town of Hope, which is supporting nearly 1,100 people forced to leave their homes.
“An access road is being built right now to reconnect Hope with the rest of the Lower Mainland soon,” Farnworth said. “One of our main priorities is to ensure that there is a flow of provisions and materials so that people can buy food and essential goods in areas where roads or railways are flooded or damaged ”.
A new evacuation order was issued Tuesday for a section of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.
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.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said on Tuesday impassable highways were adding to the chaos as police and firefighters tried to direct people to evacuation centers.
“It breaks my heart to see what’s going on in our city,” he said.
Sunny skies followed two days of torrential rains that reached the typical amount of precipitation in the region for the entire month of November, but the mayor mentioned that the water continues to rise and Highway 1 will be blocked for a period of time. time.
“People have to be prepared that they won’t be able to travel for a few days. Even so, there is gullying further into the Interior, on the Coquihalla Highway and the Fraser Canyon. There will be no truck traffic anytime soon, nor trains for that matter ”.
Mr Braun warned people tempted to drive in what could be extremely deep ditches, adding that he was concerned that he would not be getting enough information from Washington state officials on the levels of water which has increased dramatically due to the overflow of the Nooksack River and Sumas Dyke.
The evacuations in Abbotsford add to others that have taken place in various parts of British Columbia, including Merritt, where the town of 7,000 people had to be evacuated when the sewerage system failed due to of an “atmospheric river” which caused flooding in the southwest and center of the province.
More than twenty emergency establishments have been set up to help accommodate stranded travelers.
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.