Access between Lower Mainland and rest of B.C. compromised as mudslide closes Highway 99

Access between the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C. is all but cut off as the Sea to Sky Highway is shut down due to a mudslide.

DriveBC tweeted Monday morning that Highway 99 was closed after a mudslide roughly 42 kilometres south of Lillooet, a community on the Fraser River north of Vancouver.

The mudslide is between Lil’wat and Texas Creek Road, according to the DriveBC website.

As it stands, there is no detour available or estimated time of reopening, leaving no practical routes between the Lower Mainland and the rest of the province.

An intense “atmospheric river” has drenched the southern part of the province, stranding hundreds of residents in cars and emergency shelters.

Floods, landslides and mudslides have forced several city evacuations and shut down Highways 1, 3 and 7, and the Coquihalla Highway near Hope.

Motorists attempting to reach the eastern Fraser Valley on Monday night won’t be able to pass through Abbotsford, the local police service tweeted, as Highway 1 closures remain in effect.

Sumas Prairie is under an evacuation order and no backroads or detours are available.

Highway 93 has reopened for southbound traffic between Radium and Banff, Alta., although a snowfall travel advisory remains in effect.