Wild day for hundreds of people caught in double landslides on British Columbia’s Highway 7

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Caught in her car between two landslides Monday afternoon, Angela Howard placed plastic bags on the outside of her vehicle to collect rainwater and tried to keep hope for her two young children.

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But as the day wore on and rain and wind continued to hit the remote stretch of Highway 7, where she and 275 other people, including 50 children, were stranded Sunday night between Agassiz and Hope, Abbotsford’s mother. He admitted that he was struggling to stay. strong.

“They’re freaking out,” she said of her two sons, ages four and six, who slept in their car seats Sunday night while Howard waited for daylight, starting the car every now and then to keep it warm as he watched. close up of the fuel gauge. . “My heart breaks when I listen to my children (ask for) food and water and I have nothing to provide for them.”

Search and rescue teams began air evacuations Monday afternoon on Highway 7, while authorities worked to determine if anyone had been trapped in the flow of debris caused by a near-endless deluge of rain that began Sunday. and continued until Monday afternoon.

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The 275 people were expected to be rescued by the end of Monday, British Columbia Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said, adding that no deaths have been reported. The Agassiz fire department is credited with saving 12 people Sunday night in “treacherous conditions” as their vehicles filled with debris and water.

Caused by an “atmospheric river,” the storm triggered several landslides along several British Columbia highways from Abbotsford to Merritt, including one that traversed a chunk of the Coquihalla Highway and another that downed train cars near Yale. Meanwhile, parts of Abbotsford and all of Merritt were ordered evacuated as people scrambled to pack their belongings and farmers helped each other move livestock to dry land.

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The City of Abbotsford issued an evacuation order for about half of Sumas Prairie, including several large farms, as well as the Huntington community along the US border, as residents reported seeing water spills on the roads of the train, which serve as a dike for the area.

Karl Meier was moving his dairy herd on Monday morning as the water surrounded his farm and he had no time to talk. “I am trying to evacuate my animals. Sorry, no time today. “

On the road to Meier’s farm in the Cole Road rest area, motorists trying to avoid heavy traffic on Highway 1 were swerving into the flooded prairie, where several roads were impassable due to high tide.

Taxi driver Paul Tapp said that water had risen up the side of his car, forcing him to turn around.

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Later in the day, the rest area was flooded by rising water and more roads were closed, making it difficult for some people to return home from work at night. Highway 1 between Highway 11 and Exit No. 3 Rd was closed in both directions at 7 p.m. Monday due to a flood warning on the Sumas River. It was not known when it would reopen.

Several houses on Sumas Mountain also received an evacuation order due to a minor landslide.

James Reinheller’s family home in Abbotsford is scheduled to appear in the Christmas issue of House and Home magazine, but it was one of the first to be hit by a strong wave of water Sunday when streams overflowed in its neighborhood. . The damage to some houses across the street was so severe that they appeared to have been struck by a vehicle, not water, he said.

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The entire city of Merritt, which has a population of more than 7,000, was evacuated Monday. A video posted on Twitter showed a mobile home floating in a fast-moving river.

“Floodwaters have now inundated two bridges across the Coldwater River and floodwaters impede access to the third,” the city said in a news release, adding that the sewer system was not working. “The permanence of the community without sanitary services presents a risk of massive accumulation of sewage and a risk to personal health.”

Residents who had no place to stay were told to head to Kamloops or Kelowna, and the city requested that all gas stations remain open for those leaving the city.

Meanwhile, the southbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway between Larson Hill and Juliet east of Hope were washed into the river, according to a tweet from the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation.

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Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Farnworth called Monday a “very distressing time”, adding that the flood situation in British Columbia remains dynamic and the wind and rain are compounding the problem.

He said a new landslide further north on Highway 7 in Haig had trapped more drivers.

Canada Task Force 1, the Vancouver Fire Rescue-based heavy urban search and rescue team, was dispatched to Agassiz to assist in mass evacuation efforts Monday. A bright yellow RCAF Cormorant helicopter was seen dropping people off near the Agassiz community center before taking off for another rescue trip.

The common people were also key to the rescue.

Angel Claypool, her husband and two teenage sons, ages 13 and 15, spent more than 12 sleepless hours standing in their truck on the rain-soaked Highway 7 before hunger set in and they returned in search of food or water.

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“We turned around in the eastbound lane, there were no gas stations, grocery stores, nothing, but we saw that the Sq’ewá: lxw (First Nation) building had the lights on,” he said.

As soon as the family stopped, Claypool and his children were offered a warm place to sit and a breakfast of toast, oatmeal, coffee, and water.

“We feel safe here and plan to stay until help arrives,” he said.

Melanie Forsythe was traveling from Vancouver to her home in Prince George with her boyfriend and a friend when they got caught between the slides.

“Visibility was zero in the middle of the day because the rain was falling very hard,” he said.

“There are people here who lack insulin and there are children,” he said, adding that some people are offering baby diapers. “I am scared, but at least we are safe in a vehicle. We are not stranded by the river in a vehicle. “

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Forsythe and his group were rescued Monday afternoon.

At 5:45 p.m. Monday night, Angela Howard, trapped with her two children on the side of Highway 7, was still awaiting rescue.

“They haven’t reached our area yet,” he said, “and we are out of daylight.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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