A Month's Worth Of Rainfall Deluges The Pacific North-West In Two Days

Troops have been deployed to British Columbia to help stranded residents and search areas hit by landslides and floods after a powerful storm dumped a month’s worth of rain in two days across a swathe of the Pacific Northwest in Canada and the US.

- Leyland Cecco

Troops have been deployed to British Columbia to help stranded residents and search areas hit by landslides and floods after a powerful storm dumped a month’s worth of rain in two days across a swathe of the Pacific Northwest in Canada and the US.

Vancouver remained cut off from the rest of the country by road and the two largest rail companies, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific have said damage to their tracks has halted freight services. At least one person has been confirmed dead in a landslide and more fatalities are feared, as communities cut off from the rest of the province saw little sign of respite.

South of the border in Washington State, water levels appeared to drop yesterday after floods damaged homes in the town of Sumas, leaving 1,600 residents without power and forcing hundreds to flee.

In the city of Abbotsford, just over the US -Canada border north of Sumas, emergency crews using helicopters and boats rescued 184 stranded residents. Hundreds of locals joined efforts to stack sandbags around the city’s pumping station, and yesterday morning, Mayor Henry Braun said levels were dropping – and it appeared the pumps would hold.