Canada floods: state of emergency declared as more deaths expected

Extreme rainfall has led to mudslides, as major routes hit by washouts, flooding or landslides

Floodwaters cover a motorway in Abbotsford in the Canadian province of British Columbia following heavy rain. All photos: AP

Submerged houses.

Calf houses float in the floodwaters.

A boat speeds along a flooded motorway.

A man lets a dog out of a cage as flood waters rise in the city of Chilliwack.

A flooded motorway in Chilliwack.

A volunteer carries a young girl to safety after she was stranded by rising water in Abbotsford.

Waves crash as a barge that drifted loose on English Bay sits grounded on rocks during a windstorm, in the port city of Vancouver.

A car lies in a flooded ditch along a road in Chilliwack.

Cattle are seen on a farm surrounded by floodwaters in Abbotsford.

Firefighters direct water on hot spots after vehicles burned during a fire at a business surrounded by floodwaters in Abbotsford.

A house on a farm is surrounded by floodwaters in Abbotsford.

Flooded farmland in Abbotsford.

Recreational vehicles and trucks burn during a fire in Abbotsford.

Thick plumes of smoke fill the air.

A number of vehicles were destroyed in the fire.

Emergency vehicles and tractors at the base of a mudslide on Highway 7, west of Agassiz, British Columbia.

The Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency following floods and mudslides caused by heavy rainfall — as officials say they expect to find more people dead.

Every major route between the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, where Canada’s third-largest city of Vancouver is, and the interior of the province have been hit by washouts, flooding or landslides following record-breaking rain across southern British Columbia between Saturday and Monday. The body of a woman was recovered from one of the mudslides late on Monday.

“Torrential rains have led to terrible flooding that has disrupted the lives and taken lives of people across BC. I want people to know that the federal government has been engaging with the local authorities,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Washington. “We’re sending resources like the Canadian Armed Forces to support people but also we’ll be there for the clean-up and the rebuilding after impacts of these extreme weather events.”

The federal government said it was sending the air force to assist with evacuations and support supply lines.

Military helicopters already helped to evacuate about 300 people on Sunday night from a motorway where people were trapped in their cars following a mudslide.

“We expect to confirm even more fatalities in the coming days,” British Columbia Premier John Horgan said.

He called it a once-in-a-500-year event, and said the state of emergency will include travel restrictions so essential goods, medical and emergency services will reach communities in need. He asked people not to hoard goods.

“These are very challenging times. I’ve been at this dais for two years now talking about challenging times we have faced — unprecedented challenges with public health, wildfires, heat domes and now debilitating floods that we have never seen before,” Mr Horgan said.

A future with more flooding

He said over the past six months there have been drought conditions in Merritt, where the river was at its lowest point in living memory and where people had to be evacuated because of wildfires in temperatures that were unprecedented. And now, he said, much of the community is under water.

“We need to start preparing for a future that includes more events like this,” Mr Horgan said.

The weather events are all connected and can be attributed to climate change, said John Clague, a professor in the earth sciences department at Simon Fraser University.

“Scientists are now saying these particular events, they’re becoming more frequent, exacerbated or ramped up by climate change,” he said.

The record temperatures in the summer set the stage for the wildfires, said Mr Clague. The fires burnt the ground in a way that prevents water from seeping into the soil. He said that resulted in the water from the torrential rains pouring more quickly into steams and rivers, causing floods.

The total number of people and vehicles unaccounted for had not been confirmed near the town of Lillooet. Investigators had received reports of two other people missing but added other motorists might have been buried in a slide on motorway 99.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said thousands of animals had died and the province was rushing to get veterinarians to other animals in danger.