Canada floods: one killed, infrastructure destroyed and Vancouver disconnected

“The (floods) caused massive damage to roads, bridges, railways, sewage treatment plants, dams and pumping stations. There has been a very significant impact on infrastructure,” Canadian Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair said. According to him, the Canadian Air Force will help restore supplies in the flooded areas.

The floods also affected the western state of Washington, which, according to the AP agency, is slowly recovering from the influx of water. Rescue teams are working to restore power supply and open roads. However, water continues to rise in some areas and even today some people have not been able to heed the call for evacuation.

On Tuesday, 1,100 homes along the Canadian border were evacuated due to the rising level of the Sumas River.

The Northwest American continent has received record rainfall since Monday. At some places, it rained as much as every day in the month. Many cities have been completely cut off from the rest of the country, and food has run out in Hope, about 160 kilometers from Vancouver, for example. According to the local mayor, about a third of the city of 6,000 had to find emergency shelter.

A woman died in mud near the village of Liluette in the Canadian province of British Columbia and her body was discovered by rescue teams on Wednesday. According to the police, at least two other people are missing.

According to Canada’s two largest railway companies, the connection to Canada’s largest port, Vancouver, was cut off due to flooding. 550 million Canadian dollars (9.7 billion crowns) of cargo passes through it every day. The floods have also temporarily halted exports of wheat and rapeseed from Canada, one of the world’s largest grain exporters.

Some farmers in the Abbotsford area, one of Canada’s worst-hit cities, ignored evacuation orders and tried to protect cattle from rising water. They restrained the animals and tried to rescue them with the help of motor boats, canoes or jet skis.