A house in Abbotsford, British Columbia, was seen surrounded by flood waters on Tuesday.
A woman’s body has been recovered from a landslide triggered by extremely heavy rain off the Pacific coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Officials gave this information on Tuesday.
Police said search and rescue workers were continuing to search for other possible victims from Monday’s slides.
Pemberton District Search and Rescue Manager David McKenzie said his team approached seven vehicles at the slide site on Highway 99 near the city of Lilleutt and police were trying to determine if there were any other bodies.
“It’s a significant amount of debris. It makes it very difficult for our search team. The mud is up to their waist. I don’t remember our team being involved in anything like this in the past,” he said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoheit said the total number of people and vehicles had not yet been confirmed. She said investigators had received reports of two other people being missing, but added that other motorists could be buried in the slide.
Jonathan Gormick, spokesman for the Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team, said that the road had been cleared of potentially trapped vehicles or people, and they would now seek the debris area of the slide.
Around 300 people spent Sunday night in their vehicles and were rescued by helicopter on Monday.
Elsewhere in the province, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said impassable highways were causing havoc in his city as police and firefighters tried to get people to evacuation centers.
“It breaks my heart to see what’s happening in our city,” Braun said.
Two days of torrential storms in sunny skies reduced the city’s normal amount of rain in November, but the mayor said the water was still rising and Highway 1 would be closed for the time being.
Braun said he was concerned about receiving enough information from Washington state officials about water levels that have risen dramatically over the Nooksack River and the Sumas River.
“When are we going to crest? When is it going to flatten out here? It’s like a full cup of coffee. Once it’s full, it keeps flowing to the sides,” he said.
Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Seer said officers removed some people from the roofs of cars submerged in floodwaters on Monday night, but left some motorists in semi-trucks as they were above water.
“I was out there last night. You couldn’t see where the side of the road was. We found one member wearing a life-jacket and swam to a car that overturned to get someone back . and he was regular for about two hours,” said Ser.
About 1,100 homes were evacuated in Abbotsford, among others in various parts of British Columbia, including Merritt, where the entire city of 7,000 people were forced to leave after sanitation systems failed.
Several roads have been closed due to floods or landslides, including Highway 1A, Highway 3, Highway 5, Highway 11, Highway 12 and Highway 91.
British Columbia Public Safety Minister Mike Farnsworth said provincial cabinet ministers would meet on Wednesday to consider declaring a state-wide emergency. He said supplies such as food, cots and blankets were being made to the city of Hope, which is supporting about 1,100 people forced from their homes.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “I am deeply concerned about the situation in British Columbia at this time and what hundreds of families are going through, thousands of people affected by these extreme weather events.”
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