Rescue helicopters evacuate almost 300 trapped motorists from a flooded Canadian highway after landslides wash away roads, bridges and block railway lines
Canadian helicopters carried out multiple missions on Monday to rescue hundreds of people trapped in their vehicles on a highway after huge rainstorms sparked landslides in the western province of British Columbia.
The rainstorms that started on Sunday triggered landslides, shutting roads, prompting the evacuation of an entire town, forced an oil pipeline to close and delayed flights.
About 275 people including 50 children were stranded, some 100 vehicles near the mountain town of Agassiz about 75 miles east of Vancouver, which prompted evacuation flights.
Video footage showed Canadian Forces Cormorant helicopters ferrying evacuees to safety.
This is the moment a group are flown to safety in a rescue helicopter after the area rapidly became flooded along Highway 5
A yellow Cormorant chopper dropped people off near the community center in the town of Agassiz before taking off for another rescue trip
Search and rescue personnel help flood evacuees disembark from a helicopter in Agassiz, British Columbia on Monday
An aerial view shows a broken bridge as a flood sweeps through, near Coquihalla, British Columbia, Canada. Part of Highway 5 is pictured here
Emergency services personnel wade through floodwaters along a damaged road in Malahat, British Columbia, Canada
Flood warnings and watches were issued on rivers and streams for areas from Merritt south to the border with the United States, the lower Fraser region and sections of southern Vancouver Island
Search and rescue personnel help flood evacuees disembark from a helicopter in Agassiz, British Columbia
The landslides and floods come less than six months after an out of control wild fire gutted an entire town, as temperatures in the province soared
Video footage showed Canadian Forces Cormorant helicopters ferrying evacuees to safety
Floodwaters flow along a damaged road in Malahat, British Columbia, Canada
Nearly 300 people were trapped overnight in their vehicles by mudslides on a highway in British Columbia were being flown to safety by helicopters Monday
Authorities in Merritt, some 140 miles north east of Vancouver, ordered all 8,000 citizens to leave after rising waters cut off bridges and forced the waste water treatment plant to close.
It warned residents not to use water from faucets or flush their toilets.
'Continued habitation of the community without sanitary services presents risk of mass sewage back-up and personal health risk,' the city said in an official notice.
Some areas received 8 inches of rain on Sunday - the amount they usually see in a month - and the deluge continued on Monday, with roads covered by mud or up to 10 inches of water.
The landslides and floods come less than six months after an out of control wild fire gutted an entire town, as temperatures in the province soared.
An aerial view shows the damage caused by floods and landslide near Sea Bird Island, British Columbia. Part of BC Highway 1 is show here
A vehicle is submerged in flood waters along a road in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Monday
Fallen trees and debris are pictured as a flood sweeps through, near Lillooet, British Columbia. Highway 12 can be seen here
A road is submerged in floodwaters in Malahat, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday
Forsythe said everyone in her vehicle joined about two dozen people on the flight to Agassiz, where nearly 80 others from the highway had already arrived.
Forsythe said their vehicles were expected to be towed. Her group was about a nine-hour drive from home and couldn't find a hotel room to spend the night.
Jashanpreet Singh and his wife, Harleen Kaur, were also caught between the two slides and said they came upon a vehicle that had been partially crushed by a slide.
A 9-year-old boy was injured and had blood coming out of his nose and ears, Kaur said. Firefighters who were first to the scene were able to take the boy to care, she said.
An aerial view shows landslide and damage on Highway 7 near Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada in this still image from video obtained via social media
A view shows the washed out Tank Hill underpass along Highway 1 near Lytton, British Columbia, Canada in this still image from video obtained via social media
An aerial view shows a damaged Highway 1 as a flood sweeps through, near Lytton, British Columbia, Canada. A nearby railroad line appears unstable too
An aerial view shows Highway 1 damaged as a flood sweeps through, near Lytton, British Columbia washing away part of a roat and leaving a railway line on the edge
An aerial view shows the extent of flooding near Haig, British Columbia, Canada as a landslide also appears to block a railroad line
Highway 1 is left completely impassable after flooding and landslides block the road
The couple was flown out on Monday. Singh said they learned a valuable lesson because they had no food or water with them.
Around 18 miles further east, footage posted to Facebook showed parts of a road had been washed away near the town of Hope.
'The situation is dynamic ... it is very difficult weather,' provincial public safety minister Mike Farnworth told reporters.
Gales are due to hit the area later, most likely causing power outages, officials said.
Flood warnings and watches were issued on rivers and streams for areas from Merritt south to the border with the United States, the lower Fraser region and sections of southern Vancouver Island.
The storm is the second weather-related calamity to hit the Pacific province in just a few months.
In late June, temperatures hit a record high, prompting blazes that destroyed one town.
A vehicle is submerged in flood waters along a road in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Monday
A batting cage in Hougen Park is seen submerged after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods, shutting highways, in Abbotsford
A man surveys the flooding on a property after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods, shutting highways
A restrooms building in Hougen Park is seen submerged after rainstorms lashed British Columbia
Hougen Park is seen submerged after rainstorms saw floodwaters rapidly rise in Abbotsford, British Columbia
Hougen Park is submerged following storms that have lashed the regions leading to flooding and landslides near Vancouver
Restrooms are completely underwater at a park in Abbotsford, British Columbia
About 275 people including 50 children were stranded, some 100 vehicles near the mountain town of Agassiz about 75 miles east of Vancouver, which prompted evacuation flights
Search and rescue personnel help flood evacuees disembark from a helicopter in Agassiz, British Columbia
The storms forced the closure of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which takes crude from Alberta to the Pacific Coast. The line has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
Work on a proposed expansion project has also been halted, the operating company said.
Melanie Forsythe said her drive home from Vancouver to Hope, British Columbia, had her making at least five detours as rain washed out a bridge, closed roads and trapped her overnight between two mudslides before a helicopter landed on the highway and carried her to the town of Agassiz.
Forsythe, who was with her boyfriend, Shawn Ramsay, and a friend, made it to the town about 18 hours after they were forced to stop on Highway 7 with nearly 300 other travelers.
'All three of us were kind of hyping each other up, saying it´s going to be good, we're going to get out of here. But then we all had moments like, `Is this it? Is this the last time we're going to see our kids?´ We were talking to our parents and our families, but it was just a scary situation,' she said.
A man rides a bicycle along the sea wall past a barge that came loose from its mooring and crashed ashore after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia in Vancouver
A sea barge collides with the shore of Vancouver's English Bay during a storm
A sailboat torn from it's moorings in Vancouver runs ashore in False Creek durning a storm that brought winds gusting up to 60mph
Bystanders along the English Bay sea wall in Vancouver take pictures of the high sea during a winter storm
Some areas received 8 inches of rain on Sunday - the amount they usually see in a month - and the deluge continued on Monday, with roads covered by mud or up to 10 inches of water
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