Flood warnings rise on Vancouver Island
Courtenay declares emergency
Last Updated: Monday, November 16, 2009 | 10:54 AM PT
CBC News
Road conditions could be dangerous in heavy rain. (CBC)Eight rivers on Vancouver Island were placed on a flood warning Monday after heavy rain swept over the B.C. coast, while the city of Courtenay declared a local state of emergency.
At one point more than a dozen roads and bridges were closed because of the flood threat in Courtenay, but they were later opened with a warning they could be closed again without notice.
The flooding also forced some minor evacuations in Courtenay.
The River Forecast Centre says rivers on central Vancouver Island are at or near their peak, but rivers on the southern Island, including the Nanaimo, Chemainus, Englishman and Cowichan, are continuing to rise.
The storm, which also knocked out power to several thousand people on the island, the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior, brought up to 250 millimetres of rain in 24 hours to parts of Vancouver Island.
The deluge is the result of what Environment Canada calls the Pineapple Express, a flow of moist, sub-tropical air from Hawaii that can cause extreme rain in B.C.
Weather warnings continued for southwestern B.C. with high winds and rain continuing in some areas overnight but easing off Tuesday. Between 20 and 50 mm of rain were expected by Tuesday morning for Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the southern Interior.
Most power restored
About 25,000 Vancouver-area BC Hydro customers lost power overnight Sunday after winds up to 90 km/h knocked down trees and power lines, mostly in the Fraser Valley, south Surrey and the Sunshine Coast areas.
The storm also knocked out power to nearly 4,000 customers on Northern Vancouver Island and 3,000 in the central and northern Interior on Monday morning. Crews restored service by Monday night to all but a few hundred homes in the areas of Prince George in the central Interior and and Bella Bella on the Central Coast.
The heaviest rain was reported in Squamish, which has received 105 millimetres since the storm arrived on the weekend.
A flood watch is also in place for Howe Sound and the North Shore mountains. Rivers are forecast to crest Tuesday. Grouse Mountain on Vancouver's North Shore issued a notice on Monday morning saying the resort was shut down, after it opened for the season on Friday. The freezing level rose to 1,900 metres on Monday, well above the mountain's peak of 1,250 metres.
Pedestrians and drivers are advised to be careful on the roads after two pedestrians were killed in separate accidents in Metro Vancouver during the stormy weekend weather. Two more jaywalking pedestrians were struck Monday evening, but neither suffered serious injuries
With files from The Canadian Press
