Floods kill one and force evacuation of thousands

Canada is still bereaved by a natural disaster. Torrential rains, landslides and floods that have affected southern British Columbia in the west of the country in recent days have left at least one dead and thousands evacuated, local authorities said Tuesday.

“The body of a woman was found in a landslide that occurred on Highway 99, near Lillooet (250 km north of Vancouver) on Monday morning and the search continues today,” announced the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The body of this woman was discovered at the end of the day Monday. “The total number of people and vehicles missing has not been confirmed,” the authorities said.

Many roads closed

On Monday, the estimated 7,000 residents of the town of Merritt, located 300 km northeast of Vancouver, were evacuated. “We expect this evacuation order to remain in place for probably more than a week,” the municipality said on Tuesday. “Floods continue to cause serious dangers and damage,” she said.

The rain had stopped but many roads remained closed and towns were still flooded after the Fraser Valley reported as much as 250mm of precipitation on Monday, according to images broadcast on Canadian television. Other tours by a resident of British Columbia showed his helicopter evacuation, as mudslides blocked a highway.

“It breaks my heart to see what is happening to our city”

Many districts were also evacuated, including 1,100 people in areas of the city of Abbotsford, a few dozen kilometers from Vancouver. “It breaks my heart to see what is happening to our city,” said Henry Braun, the mayor of this city of about 150,000 people located on the Canada-US border. The city council explained that the floods were mainly due to the flooding of the Nooksack River in the United States. “It’s the worst I’ve seen since I immigrated here in September 1953,” he lamented.

About 9,000 people were also still without power, according to an update from BC Hydro. “We are very concerned about the situation in British Columbia,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday. “We are going to be there with all the resources that British Columbia could need,” he added, adding that he was due to meet by the end of the day with John Horgan, the Premier of British Columbia. Province.