RCMP in British Columbia confirmed Thursday that there are now four people missing following a deadly mudslide on Highway 99-Duffey Lake Road earlier this week.
One woman from the Lower Mainland died in the slide but BC RCMP said Thursday that they expected that number to rise.
They did say all four missing people are related to that slide area, which struck north of Pemberton Monday afternoon.
More than 1,000 stranded people were able to leave Hope Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, heading west towards the Lower Mainland.
However, it will still be “an extended period of time” before roads in the province will be open, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Thursday.
Thousands of people are out of their homes and thousands of animals remain at risk.
“There will be many challenging days ahead,” Farnworth said.
Farms affected by the floods started receiving food and water supplies Thursday, Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham added.
Emergency crews were able to secure helicopters to drop containers on the farms and then charge them with water, she added.
Getting access to feed was an issue on Wednesday but Popham said there was some feed at the Port of Vancouver that was destined for China, but was rerouted back to the Fraser Valley.
U.S. farms have also reached out to help, Popham added.
The province has heard reports farmers are desperate to get back to their farms and animals and are ignoring road closures. Popham said she knows it is an incredibly difficult situation and they are working to get the roads open as quickly as possible.
Major highways around the province remain closed Thursday as assessments and construction is underway to fix them as quickly as possible.
In Abbotsford, 600 people have now been evacuated due to the flooding. That includes 11 who were rescued overnight.
There are still 40 people in the evacuation order area in Sumas Prairie, according to Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr.
Mayor Henry Braun said water from Washington state’s Nooksack River continues to flow northeast, across the Sumas Prairie, and water levels continue to rise toward the east of the prairie.
Braun also said the Barrowtown pump station, which is facing a surge of water from the Nooksack River, is working at full capacity, but holding so far.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Financial Assistance program is now available for eligible British Columbians in the southwest, central and southeast areas of the province and Vancouver Island.
The financial assistance is for those affected by the flooding and landslides from Nov. 14 to 16, 2021.
The application can be accessed online on the government website.
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