Canada sends troops to reopen shipping lines after floods in BC | Flood News

The Canadian government is sending an air force from the Pacific Ocean to Canada in British Columbia (BC) to assist evacuation and support lines after floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains.

Mudslides caused a torrential downpour that destroyed several highways and killed at least one person, with officials warning that the danger could rise. More rain is expected in the coming days.

Federal Public Security Minister Bill Blair on Wednesday said the military had also protected people from floods or landslides. Military helicopters had already helped to evacuate about 300 people from another highway when people were trapped in their vehicles Monday night following a mudslide near the town of Agassiz, about 97km (60 miles) east of Vancouver.

“Extreme levels of flood danger were announced in at least two places. I want people to know that the government has done something with the authorities, “said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington.

“We are sending aid like the Canadian Armed Forces to help the people and we will be there to clean up and rebuild after the weather crisis.”

Several towns were evacuated and food supplies began to dwindle in the town of Hope, 160km (100 miles) east of Vancouver.

Pastor Jeff Kuhn said one-fourth of the town’s 6,000 residents are looking for accommodations.

“There is not much left in grocery stores. He can no longer pay, there is no way to get through, ”he told the Broadcasting Corporation of Canada, adding that although some food had been delivered by air, there was only one day left.

Near Vancouver in the town of Abbotsford, farmers disregarded the evacuation order and desperately tried to save their animals from the high water, sometimes tying the ropes around their necks and pulling them to higher ground.

“I know it is difficult for farmers to leave their livestock, but people’s lives are more important to me now than livestock and poultry,” Mayor Henry Braun told reporters for fear that the pumping system would fail and overflow the area.

Workers were on Tuesday night shoveling sand at the Barrowtown pump station and the city’s fire chief told a press conference late Tuesday that additional water-saving equipment was being added, in anticipation of the need for immediate, life-saving assistance if the pumps went off. down.

In addition to the high population density, floods have disrupted the region’s natural flow, disrupting global systems that are already struggling to cope with the effects of COVID-19.

“There has been extensive damage to roads, bridges, railways, water treatment plants, stadiums and pumping stations. There is a serious economic crisis, “Blair told Canada Broadcasting Corp.

The body of one woman was found in mudslides caused by heavy rains and mudslides that destroyed parts of several highways.

The number of people and vehicles not found was not immediately known. Investigators received reports of two other missing persons but added that other motorists may have been buried on a slide on Highway 99 near the town of Lillooet.

Mr Blair said the air force would help eliminate the channels of delivery that had been severely affected.

The Canadian Pacific Rail and the Canadian National Railway, the country’s two largest railway companies, say flooding has forced them to reduce their work in Vancouver, the country’s largest port.

The port of Vancouver transports goods worth C $ 550 million ($ 440m) daily, from cars to containers loaded with essential items.

The floodwaters temporarily shut down the supply of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s leading exporters of crops. This interference may also affect the delivery of potash.

Although the town of Merritt, 200km (120 miles) northeast of Vancouver, with a population of about 7,100, has been officially relocated, some people are missing. Pam Velt lost her home Monday as the river began to recede rapidly.

“One minute we were digging in the sand and I looked up and we were surrounded by water and debris, and things from our house were floating near us. It was bad, “he told CBC.

British Columbia cabinet ministers are expected to consider whether to declare a state of emergency in the region due to floods, floods and landslides that cut through all the routes from Lower Mainland to the Interior following torrential rains in southern BC between Saturday and Saturday. Monday. .