Flooding shuts B.C. highways
Conditions have continued to deteriorate in B.C. due to heavy flooding, with more roads being heavily damaged and closed overnight.
Reports indicate Vancouver has now been cut off from the rest of Canada by road, a news release from the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada said.
Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley was closed in both directions as of 7 p.m. Monday, a government news release said.
The highway closure is between Highway 11 and No. 3 Road and is necessary due to the flood warning on the Sumas River.
Highway 7 also remains closed due to flooding and debris.
The storm forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes on Monday, including the entire community of Merritt, news reports said.
Unrelenting rain drenched much of the province, causing flooding, mudslides, rockslides and widespread highway closures between the Lower Mainland and Southern Interior.
Landslides and flooding also cut off access to nearly two-dozen roads in the City of Abbotsford.
“Please avoid all travel to Abbotsford and the surrounding areas,” DriveBC tweeted. “Emergency crews dealing with extensive flooding and any additional traffic volume will hamper their efforts. Highways are closed until further notice.”
The B.C. Trucking Association said its thoughts are with those affected by the devastating floods. The association and its members will work with the provincial government and local organizations to support relief and rebuilding efforts.
By the time the rain began winding down Monday afternoon, many parts of the province received 100-250 mm over the course of the previous 36 hours, and some even more than that, the Weather Network said. On average, most communities typically see no more than 250 mm of rain for the entire month of November. Strong winds, with gusts up to 90 km/h, were also still howling through Monday night.
Snowfall and winter storm warnings replaced rainfall advisories on Tuesday for areas including Fraser Canyon and Fraser Valley along the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merrit.
For details on road closures visit https://drivebc.ca/#listView&severity=Major&xtg=Major%20Events
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This is a real disaster and it was born to happen in time I have driven on all of the mountain highway in BC and every time it was a challenge to think ( What if??) the what if did happen .
Feel sorry or the BC people but to cope with the nature is almost impossible to prevent any of what is happening now it is after all The Rockies and to have just one main highway say the number 1 only east to west this is what happen.
For the trains well in the shape of things in the canyon it is not safe at all the tracks lies on that soft soil and we see what happen.
the Economy will be rough going from the ships to unload and goods going nowhere so the feds will jump in the game and for once spend real money for our country. Good luck to all BC people.
This is a disaster we didn’t need right now.
One option we do have for trucking, is to go south of AB and cross the 49th at Coutts, AB. Travel USA to Seatlle and go north to Vancouver.
It will take longer and add costs but getting things moving is likely more important. It will take many weeks to repair BC’s infrastructure.