Many parts of southern B.C. are suffering the aftereffects of Monday's storm, as freezing rain and snow have closed highways, rising rivers threaten to overflow their banks and regional officials raise concerns about drinking water.

A digger clears the ice after Pemberton Creek flooded Highway 99.
(Mike Grenzer)

On Tuesday morning a flood watch remained in place for many areas of B.C.'s south coast, as forecasters predicted another 30 to 40 millimetres of rain will elevate rivers already swollen by rainfall and melting snow.

On Vancouver Island several homes were evacuated overnight along the Cowichan River and officials added the Gold River to the flood warning.

Warnings were still in effect for the Nanaimo, Koksilah, Chemainus, Englishman and Cowichan rivers.

Heavy rain was also expected on the north side of the Fraser Valley, and the River Forecast Centre issued a flood warning for the Stave River in the north-central Fraser Valley area, between Maple Ridge and Mission.

Fifteen homes just north of Horseshoe Bay were evacuated late Monday night and a local state of emergency was declared, after a buildup of rocks, soil and tree limbs in a catch basin above the homes threatened to wash down the slope.

A few thousand homes and businesses on Vancouver Island and the Pemberton area lost power overnight, with the largest outages in Duncan, Courtenay and Port Alberni.

According to the BC Hydro website, most people should have power back later Tuesday, but an outage for about 300 customers in Port Alberni isn't expected to be fixed until Wednesday.

Highways closed or treacherous

Numerous travel advisories remain in place for southern B.C. highways as freezing rain and snow made conditions miserable or caused roads to be closed.

The Trans-Canada Highway was closed overnight between Revelstoke and the Alberta border and between Hope and Spences Bridge.

Highways 3, 5, 8, 12, 16, 23, 31, 40, 43, 93, 95, 97 and 99  were also closed or otherwise affected.

The Bridge River Valley communities of Bralorne and Gold Bridge were completely cut off because of a high avalanche hazard along Highway 40.

Rainfall or freezing rain warnings continue for the west coast of Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver, Howe Sound, Whistler and the Fraser Canyon.

There is some good news, however, as wind warnings have been dropped for the Sunshine Coast and eastern Vancouver Island.

Water concerns rising

Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver officials were still warning people that the heavy rains could lead to cloudy drinking water.

Official are warning those with compromised immune systems — such as those with HIV or undergoing chemotherapy — to boil their drinking water.

So far, a boil-water advisory for the general public has not been issued, but officials said people may want to stockpile water in large jugs at home before the increased turbidity reaches their taps.

Last year, one million people in the Metro Vancouver area were without safe tap water for 12 days after a massive storm unleashed landslides in the region's watersheds.

With files from the Canadian Press