VANCOUVER, British Columbia—The Canadian Pacific coast province of British Columbia declared a state of emergency Wednesday following floods and mudslides caused by extremely heavy rainfall, and officials said they expected to find more 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 has been cut 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 Monday.
Premier John Horgan announced the state of emergency Wednesday afternoon in a press conference explaining that the once in a 500-year natural disaster has devastated entire communities and forced thousands to evacuate with many others left stranded by road closures and mudslides.
I saw footage of a two-story home floating downstream, yesterday. Even apart from that, there's going to be a whole lot of debris to gather and homes to try to dry out. And a lot of drywall to be replaced.
Living near the top of a mountain has a lot to be said for it!
