Floods in British Columbia | The government is rationing gasoline

(Vancouver) The British Columbia government is rationing gasoline on Vancouver Island, southwestern British Columbia and the Sunshine Coast after the severe storm cut supply lines.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said a limit of 30 liters of fuel per visit to a gas station is an important step in maintaining supply as the province strives to bring in more fuel. gasoline by truck and barge from Alberta, Washington State, Oregon and California.

He said the order will apply for 10 to 11 days and he hopes people follow the rules as authorities focus on essential services and residents whose communities have been devastated by the flooding.

The government has also banned non-essential travel on sections of Highways 99, 3 and 7. Passage through restricted areas will be restricted to the commercial transport of goods such as food, water and medical supplies.

Record 48-hour rainfall has caused significant damage to highways and some, like the Coquihalla, will not be rebuilt for several months while limited access has been restored for others with single-lane traffic allowed.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Route 3 from Hope to the southern interior of the province has been opened for essential travel and that Route 99, which joins with 97 north of Cache Creek, could be open by Sunday, provided the teams can continue their work.

“I want to stress that it will not be a course as you would expect under normal conditions. Teams will be on site with heavy equipment to continue repairing the roads. And until this work is completed, traffic will be slow on these routes. ”

Many roads, including Highway 1 and the Coquihalla, were cut off by subsidence and mudslides when unprecedented rains hit the south coast and interior of British Columbia.

The mayor of Abbotsford said the City had canceled plans to build a temporary dike to stop the flood waters and would now make emergency repairs to a broken dike within three days because Heavier rains are expected to flood the already hard-hit region.

Henry Braun said on Friday that eventually the entire dam may need to be rebuilt to higher standards to protect an important agricultural area called Sumas Prairie, which suffered massive flooding as water gushed out of the Nooksack River from from neighboring Washington State.

“I am concerned that the Nooksack is spilling out of its shores again. And if so, that water comes straight back through Sumas through our meadow. This is what we are trying to stop before the next rain, ”he said.

“I am concerned about (the projections) of 80 to 100 millimeters of rain. What I don’t know is the integrity of the existing Sumas sea wall. The army is on the ground looking for breaches and we have already found weaknesses. ”

Mr Braun said 64 Soldiers are on the ground in Abbotsford as part of a 120-member contingent of the Armed Forces supporting the City’s efforts after unprecedented 48-hour rainfall caused mudslides that cut several roads in parts of southwestern British Columbia.

He said 680 residents were forced to leave their homes and that farmers who did not leave in order to protect their livestock should heed an evacuation order so as not to put themselves and rescuers in danger.

“We know that this continues to be a very stressful time for these people and we are working tirelessly to find the best solutions to allow residents to access their homes as quickly as possible,” he said.

He said the construction of a seawall would have impacted 22 flooded properties and they would have been inaccessible for longer. The priority therefore shifted to filling the gaps in the existing dike as quickly as possible.

From Washington Thursday night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 120 military personnel were being sent to support relief efforts in Abbotsford. A military reconnaissance group had also been dispatched to the provincial emergency operations center in Surrey, and more than 200 soldiers in Edmonton were ready to leave.

A large transport plane left Trenton, Ontario on Friday to pick up at the base in Valcartier, Quebec, three CH146 Griffon helicopters and soldiers from the 430^e Tactical squadron in order to participate in the rescue, indicates the air force.

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on Friday that interim measures were in place with the United States to move commercial goods to British Columbia.

The Minister clarified that these interim measures are primarily intended for Canadian national motor carriers who do not normally cross the border in the course of their activities.

An estimated 17,000 people were out of their homes on Friday, with evacuation orders covering some 6,900 properties. The provincial government has also announced that financial assistance will be available for disaster victims affected by floods and landslides.

Search efforts continued following a landslide along Highway 99, south of Lillooet, where a woman’s body was found this week. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, four people have been reported missing in this region.

In Merritt, City officials said Friday the Coldwater River level was dropping, after the waterway overflowed on Monday and submerged the town’s sewage treatment plant, forcing the evacuation of all of the water. community.

But as the waters recede, the City’s Director of Business Services says it’s clear the river has carved out a new bed in the middle of what was once Pine Street on the northwest side of the municipality. Greg Lowis indicates that a new island has also formed between the new course of the river and its old bed.

Mr. Lowis is aware that it will take “great amounts of energy and effort” to divert a waterway from its new bed – and he wasn’t sure what the City will do now.

In addition, a dozen recognized organizations, such as the Canadian Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the SPCA and Centraide, raise funds or offer assistance to flood victims in British Columbia.