Death toll from B.C. atmospheric river climbs as driver found dead, another presumed drowned

Mounties on Vancouver Island say one person is dead and another is presumed to have drowned after two vehicles were found submerged in a river following heavy rains that washed out roadways across British Columbia.

Mounties on Vancouver Island say one person is dead and another is presumed to have drowned after two vehicles were found submerged in a river following heavy rains that washed out roadways across British Columbia.

The deaths would mark the second and third confirmed fatalities from the atmospheric river that drenched the province and caused localized flooding over the weekend.

The Port Alberni RCMP say they received a missing person report around 5:45 p.m. Saturday after a driver travelling from Bamfield to Victoria failed to arrive amid the rainstorm.

One hour later, the police received a separate complaint that a traveller heading from Port Alberni to Bamfield was also overdue. The driver's dog had been found near the Sarita River around 1 p.m. by passersby who contacted the family, according to police.

Investigators pinged the cellphones of the missing drivers and determined that one of them had connected with a cell tower within three kilometres of the 58-kilometre mark on Bamfield Road, the local RCMP said in a statement Monday.

A helicopter was dispatched to search the area while Alberni Valley Rescue Squad personnel were called to assist in the search effort.

Family of one of the missing drivers contacted police just before 9 p.m. and said they had found their family member's truck fully submerged in the river, police said.