VancouverMETRO VANCOUVER NEWS
Fall storm forces evacuation order in small B.C. community
A landslide risk from heavy rain prompted an evacuation order for parts of Zeballos on Vancouver Island, with other residents told to be ready to leave. The storm is also bringing hazardous waves, outages and ferry cancellations across parts of B.C.
The Village of Zeballos on Vancouver Island has issued an evacuation order because drenching rain poses a landslide risk. The village says others should be prepared to leave if needed. The order covers 101–118 Maquinna Avenue and 202–216 Pandora Crescent; anyone in those areas must evacuate now. An evacuation alert covers 402, 404 and 406 Ferris Road, where residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. The village has also declared a local state of emergency.
Parks Canada issued an extreme wave hazard advisory for beaches, shorelines and coastal waters in and around Pacific Rim National Park Reserve from Nov. 6 to 8. Wave heights are expected to reach up to seven metres on Friday and up to eight metres on Saturday and into Sunday, Parks Canada said. Beaches can go from completely dry to several feet underwater in only seconds.
Environment Canada issued a yellow rainfall warning for areas including the North Shore, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Howe Sound. Heavy rain is expected to continue throughout the day, the agency said. Thousands of BC Hydro customers are without power because of the blustery weather. The hardest-hit areas include the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast, northern Vancouver Island and parts of southern Vancouver Island.
Passengers planning to take BC Ferries on Friday also face cancellations because of high winds and rough seas. Sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay, and between Tsawwassen and Duke Point, are cancelled into the early afternoon. BC Ferries advises customers to check its website for the latest cancellation and delay information: http://www.bcferries.com/.
Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga said Friday’s storm is the first in a series. Another storm is expected to move in later Saturday night, followed by another wet stretch from Monday night through the rest of next week, he said. Forecasts from various computer weather models put total rainfall over the next week at 250 to 600 millimetres on west Vancouver Island and 100 to 300 millimetres in the Lower Mainland.