Parts of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia (B.C.) experienced Saturday street flooding due to a powerful atmospheric river causing shutting down some roads with soaking voters heading to the polls in B.C.’s provincial election.
A reception centre l ocated at Mickey McDougall Recreation Centre, 240 E. 23rd St. in North Vancouver has been opened by North Shore Emergency Management (NSEM) for residents of North Vancouver and West Vancouver displaced by the storm.
Although there were no evacuation orders or alerts in place, videos of floodwaters encroaching on homes and businesses in multiple locations on the North Shore were posted online.
Calling its region “the epicentre” of the storm, NSEM was reported saying in a statement that the volume of rain was “overwhelming” storm drainage systems in the municipalities it covers.
“There is overland flooding across the North Shore,” the statement reads, advising residents to avoid unnecessary travel and “stay away from trails near streams, creeks and rivers and steep slopes.”
Deep Cove’s Gallant Avenue became a torrent of rushing water, with video from the scene showing some businesses attempting to erect barriers to divert the water away from their doors.
Video of muddy water and debris flowing down the steep hill of 21st Street near Queens Avenue West Vancouver was shared by the police.
Both the east and westbound on-ramps to Highway 1 from 21st Avenue were closed due to flooding, police said.
Yet another video shared with CTV News shows water shooting out from a manhole cover farther down the hill in Ambleside Park.
