B.C. flooding - The Canadian Press

By The Canadian Press

First members of military contingent arrive in B.C. to assist with flood recovery

Nov 18, 2021 | 9:34 AM

EDMONTON, AB. — All eyes are on the weather over Abbotsford with clouds and rain returning to the south coast after two days of sunshine.

Environment Canada is calling for showers today and tonight over the central Fraser Valley where flooding up to two metres deep has devastated many dairy and poultry operations.

The high water has also threatened to overwhelm a pumping station leaving the Sumas Prairie area vulnerable to even more severe flooding, but the station remains in operation today and water levels in the region have receded slightly.

The weather office is calling for rainfall of no more than a few millimetres before sunny periods are forecast to resume Friday.

Efforts are underway to help stranded travellers get to their destinations in flooded areas of southern B.C.

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A single lane of Highway 7 west of Hope reopened briefly Wednesday night for cars and small trucks, allowing those stranded in Hope for days to get to Vancouver.

A special Via Rail train also carried about 200 stranded travellers from Hope to Vancouver overnight.

And BC Ferries is offering a special sailing from Sidney to Duke Point in Nanaimo at 12:30 p.m. today, with a return sailing at 4 p.m., skirting flooding related bottlenecks on the highway linking those two cities.

The first group of Canadian Armed Forces personnel has arrived in British Columbia to assist with flooding and landslide rescues and recovery.

A statement from the Canadian Joint Operations Command Centre says nine members from Edmonton’s Third Canadian Division Immediate Response Unit are now in the province to plan and co-ordinate ongoing relief efforts.

The statement says the exact size of the expected contingent isn’t yet available but it says armed forces members have been “identified and placed on high readiness to respond.”

A Hercules aircraft arrived in Edmonton last night and is staging for departure to B.C., joining a Griffon helicopter that will also come from Edmonton and a Cyclone helicopter from CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island.