BARRIE – The provincial state of emergency has been extended in BC as communities prepare for another atmospheric river forecast to make landfall in the southwestern region of the province.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued rainfall warnings for some areas, while BC’s River Forecasting center has put some areas on flood watch.
Here’s a closer look at what’s going on.
Officials in British Columbia have also extended the state of emergency until December 14.
Deputy Prime Minister Mike Farnworth announced the extension on Monday, saying the petrol allocation would also be maintained until December 14.
Drivers of non-essential vehicles are only allowed to fill up 30 liters of gas per stop at stations across the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast and Gulf Islands.
Farnworth said extending the state of emergency across the province would strengthen “the government’s response and recovery from the widespread damage caused by flooding, and direct us to take the necessary steps.” in the next day”.
CANADA ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS WITH RAINFALL WARNING
Environment Canada has issued several rainfall warnings for the Metro Vancouver, North Shore Howe Sound and Sunshine Coast areas, warning of heavy rain starting Tuesday and lasting through Wednesday.
On Monday, BC’s Department of Forestry, Land, Resources and Rural Development issued a flood warning for the Central Coast, and the North, Southeast, West and Central areas of Vancouver Island.
“Environment and Climate Change Canada is warning of 100-200 mm of rain for exposed areas on Vancouver Island and the Central Coast; 80-120 mm for inland areas of the Central Coast, including the Bella Coola valley, and 50-100 mm for the south coast,” the advisory reads.
The department said temperatures are expected to “warm through this event, and will lead to additional runoff due to snowmelt at low and medium altitudes.”
Meanwhile in Abbotsford, the local state of emergency has been extended.
During Monday’s news conference, Mayor Henry Braun of Abbotsford said while the Nooksack River overflowed on Sunday, “we don’t see any water flowing from Washington State in the eastern part of Sumas Prairie.”
“That’s good news because that’s still the worst-affected area,” he said.
Braun said he is feeling more optimistic about the situation, adding that water from the Nooksack River to Abbotsford took longer than anticipated.
He said it takes most of the country 19 hours to reach Abbotsford.
“So that’s really good news because we’ve been told to wait for it within four or five hours,” she said. “So what’s telling me is there’s less volume coming to Nooksack – that’s great for us.”
He said he hoped that Abbotsford would weather Tuesday’s weather event with “only minimal impacts.”
“I’m happy to share at this point we’re holding our own,” he said.
Braun said water levels in flooded areas in Sumas Prairie were stabilizing, and he was confident the dikes would hold.
As of Tuesday morning, several evacuation orders remained in place in Abbotsford, including a number of properties along Whatcom Road and Sandringham Road, in the Huntingdon Village, Sumas Prairie and Straiton areas.
MERRITT BC
In Merritt BC, city teams, contractors and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel worked to build waterfront defenses.
In an update Monday, city officials said the Coldwater River saw “peak discharge of 177m3/s and flooding has been contained.”
A Facebook post forecast more rain in cold water basin, we continue to reinforce riverbanks.
With another storm coming, the city is “monitoring” the situation in several ways, said Merritt Mayor Linda Brown.
“Includes hourly forecasts from Environment and Climate Change Canada, modeling from the BC Rivers Prediction Center, and visual updates from our teams in the field,” she said in an update. Sunday on Monday.
“We will continue to look at this data and hopefully maintain access to phase three of the day [on Tuesday],” she continued.
TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE
In an update Monday, Trans Mountain Pipeline said pipeline restoration work was interrupted Sunday due to “high volumes of water or inability to access.”
The company said it is still “a few days away from restarting the pipeline at reduced capacity.”
“Following the restart, shipments of existing oil and refined products will resume as they reach delivery points in Kamloops, Sumas or Burnaby,” the statement read.
After the initial launch, Trans Mountain said “sustainable efforts will continue to bring the system back to full capacity as soon as possible.”
Currently, gasoline is being brought into the province by trucks and barges to combat shortages.
With files from CTV’s Regan Hasegawa, Meagan Gill and Andrew Weichel
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