Canada sends military to flood-ravaged Pacific coast, Emergency declared

CANADA: Canada is sending the military to help evacuate and support communities hit by “extreme flooding” after record rainfall on the Pacific coast, the Government said Wednesday.

Downpours in British Columbia this week trapped motorists in mudslides that left at least one dead and two missing, forced thousands to flee their homes, and cut off Vancouver and its port.

British Columbia declared a state of Emergency Wednesday following floods and mudslides caused by extremely heavy rainfall, and officials said they expected to find more dead.

Every major route between the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, where Canada’s third largest city of Vancouver is, and the interior of the province has been cut by washouts, flooding or landslides following record-breaking rain across southern British Columbia between Saturday and Monday.

The body of a woman was recovered from one of the mudslides late Monday.

“Torrential rains have led to terrible flooding that has disrupted the lives and taken lives of people across B.C. I want people to know that the federal government has been engaging with the local authorities,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Washington.

The federal Government said it is sending the air force to assist with evacuations and to support supply lines. Military helicopters already helped evacuate about 300 people from one highway where people were trapped in their cars Sunday night following a mudslide,

“We expect to confirm even more fatalities in the coming days,” British Columbia Premier John Horgan said.

– THE INDIAN EXPRESS