Some areas of British Columbia in Canada received eight inches (200 mm) of rain on Sunday – the amount that usually falls in a month – with a number of towns and cities evacuated
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Plane Passenger captures severe flooding in British Columbia
A woman has been killed and two people are feared missing in mudslides caused by heavy rainfall in Canada.
Authorities confirmed the fatality on Tuesday, reports say.
The victim’s body was recovered from near a main road between Lillooet and the Cayoosh Summit, in the province of British Columbia.
Two more people are still believed to be missing, with it thought other occupied vehicles were lost in the landslide.
Two days of torrential rain has triggered major flooding and shut rail routes – and has now turned deadly.
Some areas of British Columbia received eight inches (200 mm) of rain on Sunday – the amount that usually falls in a month.
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An aerial view shows a washed out bridge on the Coquihalla Highway as a flood sweeps through, near Carolin Mine Road, British Columbia
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Image:
Via REUTERS)
Damage alongside a road on Vancouver Island
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Towns and cities have been evacuated, with one – Merritt – ordering all 7,100 residents to leave after rising waters cut off bridges and forced the wastewater treatment plant to close.
Footage has shown show landscapes in British Columbia littered with debris after the mudslide, which is blocking access to the highway.
“I definitely heard people screaming for help,” Adam Wuisman, who was driving on Highway 7 when a landslide hit, told CBC News.
“ItтАЩs kind of helpless to feel like youтАЩre between a very vulnerable mountainside on one side and the Fraser River on the other side.
Debris lie on the ground after a landslide and flood, near Ten Mile, British Columbia, Canada
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“And thereтАЩs really nothing you can do about it, but hope nothing comes down on top of you.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the dead woman’s had not been formally identified, but her next of kin had been informed.
Janelle Shoihet, staff sgt., added: “The total number of people and vehicles unaccounted for has not been confirmed, however investigators have received two missing people reports and believe there may have been other occupied vehicles that were lost in the slide.”
A man rides a bicycle along the sea wall past a barge that came loose from its mooring and crashed ashore after rainstorms lashed Vancouver
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Search and rescue crews had to call off their search on Monday but are now continuing to scour the slide site for other people who may be missing.
The port of Vancouver – some 150 miles from Lillooet – said on Tuesday that all rail access had been cut by floods and landslides further to the east, a development that could hit shipments of grain, coal and potash.
“All rail service coming to and from the Port of Vancouver is halted because of flooding in the British Columbia interior,” said port spokesperson Matti Polychronis.
Emergency services personnel wade through floodwaters along a damaged road in Malahat, British Columbia
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Via REUTERS)
A view from a police helicopter shows flooding in Sumas Prairie, British Columbia
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The floods have also closed numerous highways, including all main routes to Vancouver, she said.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was very concerned about the flooding and would provide any help it could.
The floods temporarily shut down much of the movement of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters.
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