B.C. storm returns for final round
After 6 days of torrential rain and flooding, forecast is cooler, drier weather by the weekend
West Coast residents got a brief respite on Thursday morning from a series of subtropical storms that have been soaking the region this week — but only for a few hours before the final round of rain resumed.
By midday, another storm had moved onto the coast, bringing more heavy rain and wind. But the final storm in the series that has been soaking the West Coast is not expected to be as severe as the previous three and cooler, drier weather is forecast for weekend.
Several days of rain this week have triggered evacuations and flood watches across Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, including a new boil water advisory for some Comox Valley residents on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, flooding forced the City of Courtenay to place more than 100 businesses and 100 homes on evacuation alert or order, but that order was lifted on Thursday.
Nearby in Little Qualicum Beach, a dozen homes are still under an evacuation order after a mudslide partially buried a house on Wednesday. Firefighters say a bank collapsed, covering a two-storey home in mud while a man was trapped in the basement.
The man was rescued and taken to hospital yesterday and an engineer has been sent in to assess the area. An emergency reception centre has been set up for nearby residents as officials say there is risk of another collapse.
Evacuation orders and road closures
The Nanaimo Regional District has cancelled a local state of emergency for Parry's RV Park on the Englishman River.
And near Port Alberni, 22 homes on the the Tesehaht Reserve have been evacuated and Highway 4 to Tofino was closed because of flooding, after more than 190 millimetres of rain fell on the area since Monday.
Highway 19A was also closed just south of Comox because of flooding.
The heavy rain has also caused closures on Highway 99 near Pemberton, because of flooding and a mudslides, along with Highway 3 near Keremeos.
The B.C. River Forecast Centre has also upgraded flood warnings and watches for parts of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast.
A state of emergency declared earlier in the week in Delta has been lifted.
With files from The Canadian Press