Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
British Columbia

Search continues for missing person after B.C. landslide washed away home

A search is ongoing for a person believed to have been caught in a landslide that hit their home and closed B.C.'s Sea to Sky Highway over the weekend. RCMP say emergency crews recovered a body of one of the two residents of the home on Sunday.

Emergency crews recovered body of one of the two residents of Sea to Sky-area home on Sunday: RCMP

The Canadian Press ·
An aerial view of a highway that has had mud and debris over on one side of it, with a landslide clearly visible along a slope.
Crews are pictured cleaning up debris after a landslide on the Sea to Sky highway near Lions Bay, B.C., on Monday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

A search is ongoing for a person believed to have been caught in a landslide that hit their home and closed British Columbia's Sea to Sky Highway over the weekend. 

RCMP say emergency crews recovered a body of one of the two residents of the Sea to Sky-area home on Sunday, and are actively searching for the second person.

The recovery of the body means at least two people died because of a severe windstorm that hit B.C.'s South Coast on Saturday. In Surrey, a woman was killed by a falling tree branch.

The landslide hit near Lions Bay, about 40 kilometres north of Vancouver, cutting off Highway 99, which connects Vancouver and Whistler.

A curved roadway with lanes separated by concrete blocks and a pile of debris across all of it.
The Sea to Sky Highway linking Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., was closed in both directions Saturday after a mudslide near Lions Bay brought down trees and debris across the road. (Ho-Michal Aibin/The Canadian Press)

The highway reopened Sunday after crews were able to clear the debris from the slide.

Several residents had been evacuated as a precaution because of the slide, but Village of Lions Bay Mayor Ken Berry said in a statement that a notice for two properties has now been rescinded. 

A worker wearing a high vis vest and a truck loader are pictured along the side of a highway.
Parts of Highway 99 were closed Monday as crews continued cleanup efforts. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The mayor says a local state of emergency will remain in place, allowing the village to access additional provincial resources. 

He says multiple agencies, including the heavy urban search and rescue, police, fire and Metro Vancouver's emergency management team are involved in the efforts to find the missing person.

A man wearing a blue hat and a blue shirt speaks in a fire hall.
Ken Berry, the mayor of the Village of Lions Bay, said that the landslide had gone over train tracks and knocked down power lines on Saturday. (Nav Rahi/CBC)

Insp. Robert Dykstra with the Sea to Sky RCMP said Monday morning that additional resources continued to come in from Metro Vancouver and other agencies to assist with the search.

"With some of the diversion of water, there is the potential for risks to people getting into the area, and we don't want anybody to get hurt," he said in response to a question about why parts of the highway were still blocked off.

The search comes as more high winds are forecast to hit B.C.'s coast, this time further north in the Prince Rupert region.

Environment Canada says gusts reaching 100 km/h are expected along the North Coast, prompting a wind warning.

It says motorists in the region need to be aware of possible hazardous driving conditions on highways, with loose objects, branches and winds pushing high-profile vehicles presenting dangers on the road.

The agency says "warning level winds" will ease by Tuesday afternoon, but high winds will persist in the region until Wednesday.

With files from the CBC's Pinki Wong

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

Related Stories