Скачать или смотреть B.C. Floods: Another landslide hits Highway 7 between Hope and Agassiz

Another landslide came down on Highway 7 between Hope and Agassiz early Wednesday, forcing a temporary road closure.At a news conference Wednesday, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said the debris from the landslide, which came down around 7 as.m. near the Maria Slough Bridge, had been cleared and the highway reopened.The highway is open to essential traffic only after two landslides came down in that area early last month.

Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said the storm is not over with more precipitation on the way Wednesday afternoon. He continued to urge British Columbians not to travel on the highways unless absolutely necessary.

“We all need to avoid unnecessary travel right now,” he said, at the news conference, adding that there are mental health supports on the B.C. government website for those who may be feeling overwhelmed or anxious about the back to back climate-related disasters the province has gone through.Many warm weather temperatures would likely be broken Wednesday, causing more snow melt, said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada.

When the snowpack is thinner an event like this can melt the snow and it can happen very quickly given how saturated the soil is, he said.

He said there could be another 40 millimetres of rain by Wednesday evening in some areas such as the North Shore and Squamish.

Meantime, Fleming said they closed Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet because the road was so saturated with water. However Fleming said they anticipated it would reopen later Wednesday.

Highway 1 is closed in both directions for about 20 kilometres between Abbotsford and Chilliwack because of flooding and for about 26 kilometres from Hope to five kilometres east of Chilliwack due to heavy rainfall forecast and risk of debris flows.“We have to get through this storm event,” said Fleming, adding it is too early to give the public an answer on when Highway 1 would reopen.

Flood warnings are in effect for rivers in the Fraser Valley, including the Coquihalla and Chilliwack rivers as well as the Lower Fraser tributaries. The Sumas, Sumas Prairie, Coldwater, Nicola, Tulameen, Similkameen, and Spius rivers are also under a flood warning.

On Nov. 12, 275 people, including 50 children, were stranded on Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope overnight in their cars because they were trapped between two landslides. About 12 people were caught in that debris and water. They were all saved by the Agassiz fire department.

Caused by an “atmospheric river” the storm led to several mudslides along various B.C. highways from Abbotsford to Merritt, including one that sliced through a chunk of the Coquihalla Highway and another that toppled train cars near Yale.

Thousands of people in parts of Abbotsford and all of Merritt were ordered to evacuate because of flooding.