Story at a glance
- A level 5 atmospheric river brought heavy rain and flooding across the Pacific Northwest and Canada earlier this week.
- Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness confirmed Wednesday the government would be offering federal assistance.
- In Sumas, Wash., nearly 75 percent of the city’s houses were water damaged due to the severe flooding.
Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, Bill Blair, confirmed Wednesday the government would be offering federal assistance following the devastating flooding and mudslides that hit British Columbia earlier this week.
“The Government of Canada will always be there to help Canadians in need. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the flooding in British Columbia,” Blair said in a news release. “I’d like to thank all of the first responders, search and rescue volunteers, and emergency managers working hard to keep people safe during this time.”
Military and government personnel are being deployed to aid with evacuation and search and rescue efforts.
“Mountainsides just collapsed on to roads. The level of destruction is really difficult to comprehend,” Andy Harrington, who lives near the Canadian city of Chilliwack and works in global humanitarian relief, told The Guardian.
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An atmospheric river — a long and narrow region in the atmosphere carrying high amounts of water vapor — inundated the region, as well as areas of the Pacific Northwest in the United States, with heavy rain, triggering mudslides and leaving at least one person dead.
On the U.S. side in Washington state, Sumas Mayor Kyle Christensen revealed that nearly 75 percent of the city’s houses were water damaged due to the severe flooding, though he noted that a majority of its 1,600 residents were able to evacuate.
“Through the evening the water level has continued to drop,” the City of Sumas Facebook page wrote on Wednesday. “Hopefully, this continues to do so the rest of the day as we are predicting. This will help residents to be able to gain access to their houses.”
As water levels continue to drop, the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services will have a mobile kitchen offering meals to locals.
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