Torrential rain has drenched many parts of B.C. Sunday and Monday as an atmospheric river descended on the province.
Roads have been washed away, cars submerged and abandoned and debris has been blown everywhere.
The community of Merrit has been ordered to evacuate due to the rising floodwaters and it is not known when residents will be allowed home.
In Abbotsford, Highway 11 is closed north and south between Old Clayburn Road and McCallum Road.
Police shared a photo of the damage to the roadway.
Southbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway have been washed away between Larsen Hill and Juliet.
The ministry said crews are still assessing the impacts to the highway and will hopefully know more soon about when it is possible to reopen the lanes.
Crews rescued 12 people whose vehicles were trapped by debris from two mudslides that closed Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope.
An additional 275 people, including 50 children, have been told to shelter in place between the two slides, according to a statement from Canada Task Force 1 issued Monday morning.
Canadian Forces Cormorant helicopters have started rescue flights to the slide area.
Metro Vancouver could see 140 to 180 millimetres of rainfall on Monday, according to a statement from Environment Canada, along with the western Fraser Valley, Whistler, Howe Sound, and parts of the Sunshine Coast.
The central and eastern parts of the Fraser Valley could see as much as 250 millimetres of rain by Monday night.
In Delta, the Planet Ice Arena saw heavy rainfalls, with a tow truck called to the arena’s parking lot to pull vehicles out of the water.
Water now covers one of the runways at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport and is seeping onto nearby Baynes Road. Several other roads in the area are shut down.
In Port Coquitlam, the Mary Hill and Freemont on/off ramps to the Pitt River bridge have been closed due to flooding. Coquitlam RCMP said east and west traffic is affected.
Video sent to Global News shows a car submerged and abandoned under the Pitt River Bridge.
A barge is drifting loose in Vancouver’s English Bay due to the rising floodwaters.
Downtown Vancouver Twitter users shared footage of the runaway vessel on Monday afternoon, which at times, struck parts of the seawall and came close to the Burrard Bridge.
An Environment Canada meteorologist says the province’s latest atmospheric river has generated “mind-boggling” data for scientific analysis.
“We have seen now our fifth atmospheric river of the season. Oftentimes, we won’t get a first one until November,” Armel Castellan, warning preparedness meteorologist, said.
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