Mayor opens detour through his yard as heavy rain triggers landslide, road closures in northwest B.C.
Power outages, road closures throughout northwestern B.C. as more rain expected
Heavy rains are triggering slides, power outages and road closures in northwestern B.C.
Rainfall and flood warnings are in effect for Haida Gwaii, the North Coast and coastal inland sections, including Terrace, Kitimat, and Stewart.
The City of Prince Rupert has issued a flood advisory, warning of extreme rain and "higher than average tides."
- Road closures and conditions from DriveBC
- Rainfall warnings from Environment Canada
- Flood watches and warnings from the B.C. River Forecast Centre
- Public safety notices from Haida Gwaii Alerts
- Power outages from BC Hydro
- High tide advisories from the City of Prince Rupert
- School bus updates from Coast Mountain School District
In Terrace, flooding on Old Lakelse Road in the Jackpine Flats area has cancelled school bus runs in that portion of the city.
In Port Edward, a dozen homes and businesses are without power due to a mud or snow slide.
In the Nass Valley, a downed hydro pole has shut down the Nisga'a Highway from Greenville to Gingolx and knocked out power to 18 homes and businesses, including the chlorination plant and fire hall.
On Monday, Kitimaat Village Road was closed due to flooding, cancelling the school bus run.
The road has been reopened, but some school bus runs remain closed and detours remain in effect due to minor flooding.
On Haida Gwaii, a tree and rockslide east of the village of Queen Charlotte knocked out power and cut off the road between the community's elementary and high schools just as children were headed home.
That prompted Mayor Greg Martin to open an emergency detour — through his yard.
"I realized the slide was right at the edge of my driveway, opened up my gate, and just advised people that it was very safe to walk through my yard," he said.
"They got wet feet ... one guy had two rifles over his shoulder, he'd obviously been hunting. It was quite the parade."
Martin said the flooding was "extreme."
"This is more water than what we normally see," he said. "I'm sure there were some wet basements."
With files from CBC Daybreak North.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story reported a power outage in Stewart, B.C. In fact, the outage was for the Nass Valley, which is included in the Stewart service area on B.C. Hydro's online outage listing.Oct 24, 2017 9:22 PM EDT