In Washington’s Whatcom County, home to Sumas, the county sheriff’s office said on Facebook that authorities and search crews on Wednesday had located a body believed to be a 59-year-old man who had last been seen clinging to a tree after his truck was swept into a flooded field in the town of Everson. Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at least two other people were reported missing.īritish Columbia Premier John Horgan declared a state of emergency Wednesday following the unprecedented flooding. Officials recommended that residents of several nearby islands evacuate.Īcross the border, the body of a woman was recovered from a landslide near the small community of Lillooet, British Columbia. To the south, a flood warning for Washington’s Skagit River will remain in effect until Thursday because it will take time for the floodwaters to drain, the National Weather Service said. “These families and businesses need our prayers and support as we start the process of cleanup and rebuilding over the next few days,” the city said in another Facebook post. It said crews were working hard to clear roads and return power to some parts of town. On Facebook, the City of Sumas said Wednesday that water levels were continuing to drop and it looked like the community wouldn’t be affected by additional potential flooding in Abbotsford. Those evacuated in Abbotsford joined thousands of others in the province who were forced from their homes by floods or landslides starting Sunday night. “I’m feeling much better today than last night,” Braun said, although he cautioned the danger had not passed. He said crews spent Tuesday night sandbagging around the station and things were “holding steady.” Mayor Henry Braun said Wednesday that conditions were bad overnight because a key pumping station was in danger of being overwhelmed. Immediately across the border from Sumas, police using helicopters and boats had evacuated about 180 residents of a flooded low-lying area of Abbotsford, British Columbia.
One death was reported and officials said Wednesday that more deaths were expected. While the weather was improving, the situation remained dire in British Columbia, where the Canadian government was sending in the military to help with floods and mudslides that destroyed parts of several major highways. The soaking fueled by a so-called atmospheric river that dumped torrents rain on the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia from Saturday through Monday reminded people of western Washington’s record, severe flooding in November 1990 when two people died and there were more than 2,000 evacuations. Longest partial lunar eclipse in centuries: How and when to watch Fridayīy Wednesday afternoon, only one river in western Washington had active flood warnings.