A British Columbia legislator says he’s “devastated” by reports of multiple deaths in the Squamish Valley north of Vancouver where a river is swollen by days of heavy rain.
Jeremy Valeriote, who represents West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, said in a statement Friday morning that his thoughts were with the families of the victims of what first responders called a “boating incident” that happened Thursday afternoon.
“This news brings another layer of heartbreak to a community that has already been through so much,” said Valeriote, describing the “warnings, evacuations, and significant disruption” caused by the flooding.
BC Emergency Health Services said it received a call at 2:48 p.m. about the incident near the 15900 block of Squamish Valley Road, which is about 90 kilometres north of Vancouver.
A search operation was underway in the community Friday morning, where members of Squamish Search and Rescue and North Shore Rescue gathered at the local airport.
A white pickup truck pulled an RCMP boat around the parking lot as members gathered inside, and a rescue team member could be heard discussing the deployment of drones in the search.
Neither RCMP nor rescue groups immediately responded to questions about the nature of the operation, while Emergency Health Services said no one had been taken to hospital.
Valeriote, who was re-elected as the community’s Green legislator last month, said the Sea to Sky region “is a strong and resilient community, but no one should have to navigate this alone.”
“My team and I are here to support residents however we can as the community begins the difficult process of recovery,” he said.
The operation comes as some residents about 16 kilometres north of Squamish have been sheltering in place after flooding triggered by a parade of storms this week.
The village of Pemberton, about 90 kilometres north of Squamish, is still under an evacuation alert, with parts of the community under evacuation order.
Evacuation orders were also imposed by the Lil’wat First Nation and in Zeballos this week.
Deluged residents of coastal areas were also facing a new flooding risk, even as rains eased, with warnings of a storm surge that could raise sea levels.
Environment Canada said the surge could hit low-lying and exposed coastal areas of Metro Vancouver, southeast Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands.
It said elevated water levels surpassing tidal predictions would be driven by high winds and “enhanced wave activity,” and were expected to peak from 10 a.m. to noon.
Most of the rainfall warnings that had blanketed the region were lifted on Thursday, though three yellow warnings remained in place for western, north and inland Vancouver Island.
Those warnings said heavy rain was expected into late this afternoon, with the highest rainfall expected near Zeballos and Tahsis in northwest Vancouver Island.
The drenching has brought more than 300 millimetres of rain to parts of southwest B.C.
