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Roads washed out after heavy rain hits northeastern B.C.

Highway 97 at South Taylor Hill is single lane alternating traffic due to a sinkhole. @TranBC Twitter

Roads are washing out in northeastern B.C. after three days of heavy rain.

At the height of the storm, there were 13 road closures in the area north of Dawson Creek and south of the Peace River. At least six roads have since reopened.

Nineteen kilometres north of Dawson Creek, Sweetwater Road remains shut down and impassable after a major washout. B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation says the site is being assessed by engineering staff and the maintenance contractor and repairs will begin when water levels recede.

A sinkhole from a damaged culvert on Highway 97 at the south end of South Taylor Hill, is expected to take two days to fix.

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Heavy rainfall started to pound the area on Friday night and continued through the weekend and into Monday morning, causing localized flooding at 47 sites.

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Environment Canada says the north Peace region saw between 30 to 90 millimetres of precipitation with communities near the Rockies getting hardest hit.

Motorists are encouraged to check DriveBC on Twitter or visit DriveBC.ca for the latest travel information.

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