About 18,000 people remain stranded by flood waters in Canada’s westernmost province, after mudslides destroyed roads, houses, bridges and other key infrastructure in what may be the country’s costliest natural disaster.
Receding floodwaters on Thursday were helping rescue efforts, but the downpour blocked off entire towns in the province of British Columbia (BC) and cut access to the largest Canadian port in Vancouver, disrupting already strained global supply chains.
The flooding comes just months after massive wildfires ravaged several BC communities after a “heat dome” brought record temperatures to the province this summer.
Those blazes may have left hills devoid of vegetation, contributing to the flooding and mudslides, while experts have warned that the climate crisis is making weather events more extreme and frequent.
Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, on Thursday said the federal government would assist BC to rebuild and restore critical infrastructure in communities affected by the floods.
Floodwaters and mudslides destroyed roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure in BC [B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure/Handout via Reuters]
“I know that there remains a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety during this very challenging time,” Blair told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
“But I want to assure all Canadians, and in particular to the people of British Columbia, that we will be there to provide support, relief, and we will work collaboratively with all levels of government to ensure that they receive the support and the essential services that they require.”
Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Abbotsford, a town about 70km (43 miles) east of Vancouver that was hard-hit by the flooding, said a huge amount of uncertainty persists, however.
“Just because the waters are receding doesn’t mean even the roads and bridges and highways are safe,” Rattansi reported. “Because of the amount of water that fell – a month’s rainfall in about two days on Sunday and Monday – and large swathes are still underwater. The economic activity in this area is severely affected.”
Earlier in the day, BC Premier John Horgan, who declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, said the death toll from the flooding, which currently stands at one, is most likely to rise.
Abbotsford officials had raised concerns that the waters would overwhelm the local pumping station and force the evacuation of all 160,000 residents.
“It’s just the worst flooding that I’ve ever seen,” resident Steve Gosselin told the AFP news agency.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Sumas Prairie overnight as a pump station risked being overwhelmed by a surge of water carried north from the Nooksack River in the United States, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said.
Braun said on Thursday there had been no change in the status of the pumping station and that the water was receding “at a pretty good clip (rate)” in some areas – but cautioned the crisis was far from over.
“We continue to move toward the recovery phase of this emergency,” he said during a briefing, while noting that more heavy rain was forecast for next week.
“We are not out of this by a long shot yet,” said Braun, adding he had been promised help by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many provincial ministers. “I take them all at their word. But I’ve also prepared them for one big bill at the end of this,” he added, estimating it would cost up to $792m to repair local damage.
This strongly suggests the final costs associated with the BC flooding would far exceed the $285m in insured losses linked to wildfires that hit Alberta’s oil-producing region of Fort McMurray in May 2016.
“Easily the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. Won’t even be close,” tweeted University of Calgary economics professor Blake Shaffer, a specialist in climate policy.
Washout from a previously flooded area is seen near Whatcom Road in Abbotsford, British Columbia on November 18 [Philip McLachlan/AFP]
The disruption to operations at Vancouver’s port is set to exacerbate existing supply chain issues and could even make Christmas trees harder to find, farmers said.
BC Agriculture Minister Lana Popham also said thousands of farm animals have died and many more were in “difficult situations”, trapped and facing shortages of food and drinking water.
Meanwhile, Canada’s military on Thursday joined the rescue efforts, deploying a Hercules transport aircraft, several search helicopters and hundreds of troops to the region, while putting thousands more on standby.
Their activities “will include providing assistance with evacuations, transport of emergency response personnel and equipment, and area reconnaissance”, said military spokesman Alex Roy.
More than 1,000 travellers had been stranded by mudslides, rocks and debris between Sunday and Monday in the town of Hope, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Vancouver.
A search, meanwhile, continues for more possible victims swept away in a mudslide near Lillooet, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, after a woman’s body was recovered this week. Federal police say at least four people are still missing in that mudslide.
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.
The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.
If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.
The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”
Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.
In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.
In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.
Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May pay tribute to the life of Murray Sinclair, former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sinclair died November 4, 2024 at the age of 73. (Nov. 4, 2024)
Floodwaters and mudslides destroyed roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure in BC [B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure/Handout via Reuters]
Washout from a previously flooded area is seen near Whatcom Road in Abbotsford, British Columbia on November 18 [Philip McLachlan/AFP]
