In Canada floods, at least 1 person is killed, and the Vancouver port is closed

Key takeaways:

• Severe rains in western Canada caused landslides and floods, forcing the closure of Vancouver’s busiest port.
• Storms disrupted the movement of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s largest grain producers, for a time. 

In western Canada, severe rains created landslides and floods, forcing the closure of the country’s busiest port in Vancouver. At least one person was killed.

On Tuesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s federal police department, announced that at least one woman died after mudslides in British Columbia closed a key roadway. 

Several routes in and around the greater Vancouver area, a large coastal city with a population of almost 2.5 million people, have been closed due to the floods.

According to the CBC, officials have received reports of two additional persons missing, according to RCMP spokesperson Janelle Shoihet.

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Because of the floods, port authorities stated Tuesday that train routes run by Canada’s two main rail companies, Canadian Pacific Rail and Canadian National Railway, had been suspended.

Because of floods in British Columbia’s interior, all rail service to and from the Port of Vancouver has been halted, according to port spokesperson Matti Polychronis.

Every day, the port of Vancouver transfers 550 million Canadian dollars ($440 million) in cargo, including grain, coal, automobiles, and other necessities.

Storms disrupted the movement of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s largest grain producers, for a time. It’s unclear how long it will take to re-establish rail connectivity to the port.

Helicopters rescued over 300 people caught by mudslides in British Columbia late Monday.

“Approximately 275 additional people, including 50 children, are trapped between two slides and have been advised to stay in place overnight since the debris is unstable and dangerous to cross,” the City of Vancouver and Canada Task Force 1 said in a joint statement.

After rising waters shut off bridges and caused the wastewater treatment facility to close, authorities in Merritt, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of Vancouver, ordered all 7,100 residents to evacuate.

On Tuesday, the towns of Chilliwack and Abbotsford, both east of Vancouver, ordered partial evacuations.

On Sunday, some locations received 200mm (8 inches) of rain, more than they usually get in a month, and the downpour continued on Monday, with roads covered in muck or up to 250mm (10 inches) of water.

Thousands of people in Washington state, just south of British Columbia, were without power due to the severe rain. On Tuesday, about 50,000 customers were still without power, compared to 158,000 customers who had lost power during the storm’s peak on Monday.

After being swept away by floodwaters, one individual has gone missing in Everson, a small hamlet north of Seattle.

Extreme weather occurrences have become more common in British Columbia and the United States’ northwest, which experts attribute to global warming. Hundreds of people died as a result of massive wildfires and record temperatures in the region this summer.

Source: ALJAZEERA

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