B.C. braces for up to 250 mm of rain as next storm arrives and second death is linked to weather

Forecasters have raised orange rainfall warnings for parts of southwest British Columbia, saying some areas could see more than 250 millimetres of rain from a new series of storms that begins Tuesday morning.

Environment Canada’s orange warnings cover west and central Vancouver Island, Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky region, with the agency warning of flooding and landslides. Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky could get more than 160 millimetres, and Metro Vancouver more than 120 millimetres near the mountains. About a dozen wind and rain warnings are in place for the southern and central coasts until Thursday.

The province’s River Forecast Centre has issued a flood watch for Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky, parts of Metro Vancouver, most of Vancouver Island, the Central Coast and the northern Fraser Valley. It says the heaviest rain is expected Tuesday and Wednesday.

Weather may have played a part in a second death. Vancouver police noted the conditions when they said a 78-year-old woman died in hospital Saturday, the day after she was hit by a car during a heavy downpour in an unmarked crosswalk at Dunbar Street and West 34th Avenue.

A tree fell on two vehicles in Surrey on Saturday, killing one driver. A canoeist has been missing in stormy waters off northern Vancouver Island since Friday. Last weekend’s storm temporarily cut power to about 415,000 BC Hydro customers.