The Malahat Highway reopened Tuesday morning after being flooded and partially washed out the day prior. Crews will manage traffic in a single-alternating pattern every 30 minues. (Ministry of Transportation)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

RECORD FLOOD

Flooding eases, highways open across Island with situation drastically different through Interior

Nov 16, 2021 | 12:53 PM

NANAIMO — Life is slowly returning to normal for Vancouver Island residents after an atmospheric river dropped a month’s worth of rain over a few days.

The airport station at Qualicum Beach recorded 92 millimetres between the evening of Saturday, Nov. 13 and Monday night. Nanaimo set a new record for rainfall on Nov. 14 with 77.8 millimetres falling. Data for Monday, Nov. 15 is still being processed.

Hwy. 1, severed in multiple locations Monday night has re-opened. A closure near Chemainus due to flooding cleared early in the evening, while crews worked overnight to reopen the Malahat Hwy. to single alternating traffic on Tuesday, Nov. 16.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre lifted all flood warnings and watches on Vancouver Island on Tuesday morning, with flows and water levels on the Nanaimo, Englishman and Little Qualicum Rivers receding.

no snow

Chances of a white Christmas for Nanaimo 'quite remote'

7h ago

vehicle damage

Over 40 vehicles damaged during late-night Nanaimo vandalism spree

13h ago

rising costs

RDN taxpayers want relief as board grapples with budget

17h ago

Multiple residents were evacuated across the central Island with water levels rising, however no major injuries were reported.

The situation remains much worse through the Lower Mainland and interior of B.C.

Several communities remain cut off due to highway closures or washouts, while low-lying land in Abbotsford is still underwater.

Around 1,100 homes were ordered evacuated Tuesday in the Sumas Prairie area south of Abbotsford as surges from flooded U-S rivers raise the Sumas River to dangerous heights.

Further inland, crews plan to start with heavy equipment but switch to specially trained dogs or dig by hand as they search for vehicles possibly swept off two highways by landslides.

Searchers will focus on an area east of Agassiz along Hwy. 7 and a section of Hwy. 99, also known as the Duffy Lake Rd, between Pemberton and Lillooet.

Slides came down in both areas, hitting cars that had already stopped because of earlier debris flows. There have been no reports of any missing people.

A bridge in Merritt is destroyed after flood waters flowed into the community Monday. (submitted photo/Kal Jade)

Meanwhile, the City of Merritt says it will take more than a week to assess and restart their critical infrastructure including the wastewater treatment plant that is underwater and inoperable.

The good news is the levels in the Coldwater River have receded according to the City. It’s allowing City crews to access the wastewater treatment plant Tuesday.

“The water levels are coming down, so we’re hoping we’ll be able to begin the assessment work across the entire community [Tuesday],” Greg Lowis, Merritt Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) information officer, said.

He noted the evacuation order will likely last for at least another week, if not longer.

“What we do know for sure is that, even if it was the best-case scenario that we just have to flush the lines and we can start work again, that is still a multi-day process. I can tell you for a certainty that this evacuation order is not going away anytime soon. Anyone who can safely leave Merritt needs to do so because we cannot operate any safe drinking water infrastructure and we cannot process sewage.”

The City also confirmed that a bridge connecting the community of Collettville within the City of Merritt has been destroyed. The situation has trapped several residents who decided to stay behind. The City is now concerned two other bridges along the Coldwater River are in danger of collapsing as well.

–with files from The Canadian Press, CFJC Today

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW