Rain has begun to fall on the southern parts of British Columbia on Saturday, threatening communities already ravaged by floods and mudslides. Up to 120 millimetres of rain is expected.
The River Forecast Centre has issued a flood watch for the South Coast, Lower Fraser Valley and the southern regions of Vancouver Island.
Evacuation alerts were issued Saturday for some low-lying properties north of Pemberton and in B.C.’s Southern Interior. Find more information here.
More than 2,000 residents in Merritt are under a boil water advisory after being allowed to return home, following the evacuation of the city due to floods.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that a new committee will be formed to manage the province’s recovery from the flooding disaster.
The provincial and federal governments will be matching all donations to the Red Cross’s flood fundraising campaign for one month, tripling the donation amount for each individual donation.
Communities throughout southern B.C. are preparing for an atmospheric river to strike on Saturday, even as federal plans to help the province recover from devastating floods and mudslides were announced.
Rain is falling in the region, but the heaviest precipitation is set to arrive on Saturday night, according to Environment Canada, which issued a rainfall warning on Friday and warned of another storm front arriving on Tuesday.
More than 100 millimetres of rain will hit near the mountains in southern B.C., with 80 millimetres of rain set to fall on the Fraser Valley, an area southeast of Metro Vancouver devastated by floods two weeks ago.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the community of Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley on Friday, seeing flood damage first-hand and talking to local officials, first responders and First Nations leaders.
Hundreds of people remain away from their homes due to the disaster, with supply chains still constrained and communities still dealing with standing water.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said the estimated 220 millimetres of rain falling on the city over the next five days would be a “situation they had never faced before.”
Trudeau said he saw “amazing” strength and resilience from first responders in Abbotsford, and he praised community efforts in the wake of the floods.
WATCH | The prime minister visits a community battered by floods:
Trudeau tours flood-ravaged B.C.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his first visit to B.C. since record-breaking rainfall caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the province. 2:54
Later on Friday, he announced a committee set to shape the province’s recovery from the widespread floods at a joint media conference with B.C. Premier John Horgan.
“It’s not going to be enough for us to be there now and in the coming weeks — we need to be there for each other in the coming months and coming years,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, with Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun on Friday. Braun said the community is bracing for more than 200 millimetres of rain over the next five days, threatening a community already swamped by floodwaters. (Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters)
Highways proactively closed
The province closed some highways on Saturday as further damage from storms is anticipated.
The three highways affected are:
Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton.
Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet.
Highway 1 in the Fraser Canyon.
Highway 1 and Highway 3 closed at 2 p.m. PT, and Highway 99 closed at 4 p.m. PT.
Reopening times will vary based on weather conditions, the province said.
B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming urged residents not to travel unless they needed to over the weekend, and he said large-scale rebuilding operations will take extreme weather events into account.
“Consider restricting your travel because we have significant weather events,” he said on Friday. “We do need to have our highways functioning for the movement of goods and we need to be safe.”
B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming asked residents of the province to avoid travel this weekend unless it was essential, with further storms on the horizon. (Mike McArthur/CBC)
Merritt evacuees to be allowed back in phases
In the community of Merritt in the province’s Interior, some residents are being allowed back to see how floods have impacted their homes, but others remain away due to damage to power lines.
Re-entry to the city of 7,500 is being done on a phased basis after it was entirely evacuated following floods on Nov. 15. Currently, residents in phases 1 to 3 of the plan can return.
Greg Lowis, an emergency public information officer in Merritt, said there has been “substantial” damage to the city’s infrastructure, including a collapsed bridge and damage to dikes.
More than 2,000 of the returning evacuees are under a boil water advisory as sewage systems in the city remain damaged by the floods.
Donna Ray’s home was placed in Phase 4 of the re-entry plan, meaning there is no estimated time for when she can return. She described her future as “uncertain,” as short-term forecasts threaten to bring more damage to the city.
“The looming threat … isn’t going to affect me anywhere I am because my house is already ruined,” she said. “It can’t do any more damage.”
Water floods a street in a residential part of Merritt, B.C. Many residents of the city of 7,500 are unable to return to their homes due to damage to power and water lines. (CBC)
Premier admits dike management model flawed
The province says supply chains are getting back to normal after significant damage to road networks.
Federal support to clear the backlog at the Port of Vancouver, as well as fuel shipments from the U.S., is said to have helped alleviate shortages.
Horgan told the news conference on Friday that neighbouring Washington state was also helping with water management.
The City of Sumas, Wash., said damage to levees during the previous storm event may lead to greater water flows, and the Nooksack River was expected to reach the “moderate flood” stage on Sunday.
Particular attention is being paid to the Nooksack and whether it will overflow its dikes. If that happens, floods may worsen in the Fraser Valley region.
Braun, Abbotsford’s mayor, said at a news conference on Saturday that he thought the city could handle the incoming precipitation after dike repairs were made.
But he also said the Nooksack riverbed had experienced sediment buildup during the last period of heavy rain, making forecasting a potential flood scenario tougher.
Crews repair the Sumas dike in Abbotsford, B.C., after heavy rains and flooding. Premier John Horgan says the current dike management system in the province, largely left to municipalities, is flawed. (City of Abbotsford)
“We’re going to watch the Nooksack like a hawk,” he told reporters. “We are not anticipating to lift any evacuation orders before the middle of next week.”
Braun said he appreciated provincial and federal help with rebuilding the dikes in the city.
WATCH | Metro Vancouver mayor calls for more uniform flood mitigation:
Port Coquitlam, B.C., mayor calls for more uniform flood preparation after ‘big wake-up call’
4 hours ago
Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West called on the provincial and federal governments to provide more funding for flood response and mitigation in British Columbia. 1:14
Horgan admitted that B.C.’s dike management system, which is largely left up to local municipalities, is flawed and needs changing.
“[The diking system] was a bad call,” he said. “There needs to be more than those local dollars at play if we’re going to protect communities going forward.”
The premier said he would be working with Trudeau to get provincial and federal funding and support communities with their flood management plans.
READ MORE:
The flood disaster has caused an unprecedented load on shelters throughout the province, with a co-ordinator in Abbotsford saying they were seeing record numbers of beds being occupied.
The B.C. Agriculture Council said some farms have lost acres of crops due to the floods, and it may take years for them to recover.
One of those farms was run by Avtar Dhillon, who lost his saffron crop to the floods in the Sumas Prairie region of Abbotsford. He says he has not lost hope and wants to grow the crop in B.C. again.
As authorities keep searching for a highway shooter in Kentucky, a Friday night tradition of football, pep bands and cheering fans has been sidelined for some towns.
Games were canceled at a handful of high schools near where the assailant opened fire on Interstate 75 in southeastern Kentucky. Twelve vehicles were hit and five people wounded in the attack last Saturday near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.
Security was being bolstered at high school football games that played on Friday evening.
Authorities continue to search a rugged, wooded area where Joseph Couch, the suspected gunman, is presumed to be hiding. The area has cliff beds, sinkholes, caves and dense brush.
Police have urged area residents to be vigilant and look out for their neighbors as searchers try to track down the suspect. Schools have been at the forefront of those safety measures.
Schools remained closed in several area districts, as students shifted to virtual learning. The disruption has paused a range of fall sports, including soccer, volleyball and cross country as well as football.
Among the schools calling off football games were North Laurel, South Laurel and Corbin high schools. The shooting occurred in Laurel County, and Corbin is 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) south of London.
Fans faced an uncharacteristically quiet Friday evening in towns that rally around their football teams.
“Friday night games are huge to our community,” said Tackett Wilson, athletic director at Corbin High School. “It’s a huge part of our community and our school.”
Practices were disrupted as schools took extra precautions while the search for Couch continues.
“Anytime you have a disruption during your season, it’s an issue,” Wilson said by phone Friday. “But you have to error on the side of caution. It’s student safety.”
Corbin officials will try to schedule a makeup football game later in the season, he said.
Amid the disruptions, fans are rooting for the law enforcement officers involved in the search.
“Right now, we are focused on backing our front-line officers and first responders so they can do their job in catching this guy and we can return to a safe and positive environment for our students,” North Laurel athletic director Ethan Eversole said.
He praised the safety plan devised by school district administrators. But students have had a big part of their lives put on hold as athletic activities have been idled.
“Our teams have not been able to practice all week,” Eversole said in an emailed statement.
Kentucky State Police brought in reinforcements to aid with the search, and authorities have bolstered efforts to keep area residents safe as the search continues.
“We will not pull resources away from the search for those other activities,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “We just want to make sure that people are ready to try to get back to their day-to-day lives, that there’s that extra (law enforcement) presence where people can feel just a little bit better.”
The day after the shooting, law enforcement officers searched an area near where Couch’s vehicle was found, with a view of I-75. There, they found an Army-style duffel bag, ammunition and spent shell casings, authorities said in an arrest warrant affidavit.
A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a sight mounted to the weapon and several additional magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” hand-written in black marker. Couch fired 20 to 30 rounds in the attack, investigators said.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
JASPER, Ohio – The municipality of Jasper in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains is taking the next step this weekend as it recovers from a July wildfire that destroyed a third of its buildings.
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland says the state of emergency will formally end on Sunday.
Ireland says the move means Jasper is transitioning from a short-term recovery perspective to a long-term view.
He also says removing the state of emergency order will help the tourist town’s much needed visitor economy return.
The wildfire destroyed more than 350 of the town’s buildings, including 800 housing units.
The town estimates 2,000 of its 5,000 residents lost their homes.
Although still burning, the wildfire that hit the community was listed as under control a week ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024
