Crews continue Monday to pump water from a flooded field in Nova Scotia in an attempt to find four people, including two children, who disappeared in a torrent of water on Saturday.
Abraham Zebian, mayor of the Regional Municipality of West Hants, told the site Monday morning that search crews were removing more than 94,000 liters of water per minute from the field.
Saturday evening, a team of divers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had found an unoccupied van in more than two meters of water. According to the federal police, it is probably the vehicle in which the children were traveling. Police had earlier said the children were traveling with three other people, who managed to escape.
The teams are also looking in the same area for a second vehicle in which a young person and a man were traveling, who are missing.
Heavy rains, which began on Friday, dumped between 200 and 250 millimeters of water along the south coast of Nova Scotia, in the Halifax area and in central and western parts of the province.
As the floodwaters had largely receded on Sunday, they left behind a network of damaged or outright washed away roads and bridges. Provincial authorities have also confirmed damage to sections of the Canadian National Railway that runs to the Port of Halifax.
Meanwhile, Canada Post mail delivery is suspended in that province until there is a better assessment of safe areas for delivery.
The province-wide state of emergency, declared on Saturday, will remain in effect until August 5. On Sunday, federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair approved a request from the province for continued assistance.
In Halifax, municipal offices remain closed on Monday as emergency crews work to repair the damage. The Halifax Regional Municipality says many areas remain inaccessible, causing safety concerns for residents.