Floodwaters force evacuation of Merritt, parts of Abbotsford and other B.C. communities
CTV
The intense storm that bombarded British Columbia forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes on Monday, including the entire community of Merritt.
The intense storm that bombarded British Columbia forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes on Monday, including the entire community of Merritt.
Videos and images taken by Merritt residents Monday morning captured streets flooded with feet of water, including one striking picture of a car floating down Coldstream Avenue.
Some homes in the Nicola Valley community, located east of Lytton, were evacuated overnight as unrelenting rain drenched much of the province, causing flooding, mudslides, rockslides and widespread highway closures between the Lower Mainland and Southern Interior.
Merritt officials announced the expanded city-wide evacuation order shortly after 10 a.m., urging the community's approximately 7,100 residents to take refuge with family or friends elsewhere in the province if possible.
"Merritt is and will remain strong," Mayor Linda Brown said in a statement. "Please, offer help to your friends, families, and neighbours, drive safely, and take care of yourselves. We will meet each other again, in our homes, where we belong."
Those with nowhere to go were advised to make for emergency services centres in Kamloops or Kelowna, depending if they have any supports in either city. Merritt residents with no connections to either were told to go to Kamloops if their home address is even-numbered and Kelowna if their address if odd-numbered.
The situation in Merritt deteriorated significantly after the weekend's heavy downpours. At around 7:30 a.m. Monday, officials issued another evacuation order covering the Collettville neighbourhood, warning that residents might have to be rescued by helicopter if they didn't flee quickly.
