Heavy rain drenched the B.C. south coast on Saturday, causing power outages and flash flooding and potentially affecting voter turnout on election day.
The season’s first significant storm is expected to dump 90 to 150 millilitres of rain on Metro Vancouver and parts of the Fraser Valley between Friday and Sunday, said Environment Canada.
About 34.2 mm of rain fell on Vancouver International Airport on Friday, the same amount of precipitation it has received for all of October.
On Saturday morning, Surrey RCMP cordoned off a flooded 76 Avenue and 152 Street after several vehicles tried to drive through the waist-high waters at the intersection and stalled.
There were several reports across Metro Vancouver of lane closures due to localized flooding and pooling water.
Drivers are asked to avoid King George Boulevard and 128 Street in Surrey because of water pooling on a section of King George Boulevard as southbound traffic exits the Pattullo Bridge near 128 Street.
In West Vancouver, the westbound and eastbound ramps from 21st Street to Highway 1 are closed due to flooding.
In Langley, police have shut down 40th Avenue between 216 Street and 212 Street over concerns of a possible sink hole.
“Heavy rain fall within the past 24 hours has compromised the stability of the roadway,” said Cpl. Zynal Sharoom, who warned motorists, pedestrians and cyclists to avoid the area.
More than 6,300 households are without power in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast.
B.C. Hydro has been dispatching crews to deal with outages in many municipalities, including Surrey, Langley, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, West Vancouver, and Gibsons.
Crews are also dealing with outages on Vancouver Island affecting about 2,300 customers.
“With the long dry stretches over the summer we know there’s vegetation that has been weakened by drought making it more susceptible to wind,” said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Mora Scott on X.
“As a result we could see more dead and damaged trees and branches coming down and potentially causing power outages on our system,” she said.
The adverse weather is also affecting voting places. Some polling stations in Langley, Kamloops, Mayne Island, Denman Island and Hornby Island have been temporarily closed or have delayed openings due to power outages.
Elections B.C. said officials are onsite to direct voters to other locations.
The severe weather has forced the cancellation of some B.C. Ferries sailings.
Some sailings between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Departure Bay in Nanaimo were cancelled Friday night.
On Saturday, major routes are operating as scheduled, although there have been some cancellations on the minor Hornby Island and Denman Island route due to absenteeism.
The storm also closed the City of Vancouver’s sold-out Stanley Park ghost train on Friday and Saturday.
Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for the B.C. south coast and Vancouver Island.
It said the North Shore mountains could potentially get about 180 mm of rain, while areas along the Sea to Sky corridor could get 90 to 150 mm.
Drivers are warned to be careful on the Sea to Sky Highway and the Coquihalla Highway, which is expected to get about 40 to 70 mm, because of a higher risk of washouts, landslides and rockfall.
NDP Leader David Eby said the forecast of an atmospheric weather storm on election day will become a “ballot question” for some voters who are concerned about the approaches the parties have toward addressing climate change.
But he said he is confident people will not let the storm deter them from voting.
“I know British Columbians are tough and they’re not going to let even an atmospheric river stop them from voting,” said Eby.
Andrew Watson, senior director of communications for Elections B.C., said it will focus on ensuring it is prepared for bad weather.
“We’ve also been working with B.C. Hydro to make sure that they’re aware of all of our voting place locations so that they can respond quickly if there are any power outages,” he said.
Elections B.C. also has paper backups for all of its systems in case there is a power failure, forcing them to go through manual procedures, Watson said.
With files from CP
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