Major highways to Vancouver, B.C., were closed early Thursday amid flooding and landslides that Canadian authorities said could block more roads.
British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit started closing roads between the province’s Interior and Lower Mainland, which includes the greater Vancouver area, on Wednesday evening as the rain caused flooding and falling rocks, posing avalanche risks.
“People are asked to avoid travel unless necessary until the heavy rainfall passes and water levels subside,” transportation officials said in a travel advisory, adding that there was no timeline for reopening and more roads could be closed with little or no notice.
The closures, east of Vancouver, have blocked the main roadways that connect the city and the rest of Canada. The disruptions echoed those the region experienced in 2021, when floods and landslides in British Columbia killed at least five people.
Several crossings between British Columbia and Washington state were still operating early Thursday.
The atmospheric river that began drenching the Pacific Northwest this week has set off evacuations throughout the region, including in Washington state. Forecasters warned that the rain could cause some of the region’s worst flooding in decades.
Flood warnings were active across southwestern British Columbia, where local officials declared a state of emergency and issued evacuation alerts in several communities, including an order to evacuate one in Fraser Valley, the region east of Vancouver.
Forecasters said that 3.5 to 5 inches of rain was expected in the Fraser Valley region through Wednesday evening. About half of that had fallen by Wednesday afternoon, David Campbell, an official in British Columbia’s River Forecast Center, said in a news conference.
Vancouver avoided the heaviest rainfall but was under a high stream flow advisory, an indication that river levels could rise rapidly and minor flooding was possible in low-lying areas. The greater Vancouver area was expected to receive 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain, forecasters said.