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Posted: Nov 15, 2021 / 10:34 PM CST
Updated: 11/15/2021 / 10:34 PM CST
Search and rescue personnel will help disembark evacuees from a helicopter on Monday, November 15, 2021 in Agassiz, British Columbia. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press via AP)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – Nearly 300 people trapped in their vehicles overnight by mudslides on a British Columbia highway were helicoptered to safety Monday while authorities tried to determine if anyone was from the City released debris flow was carried away by torrential rain.
A yellow cormorant hacker dropped people near the community center in Agassiz town before setting off on another rescue trip.
“Approximately 275 additional people are trapped between two slides, including 50 children who were advised to seek shelter overnight because debris was unstable and unsafe to cross,” said the City of Vancouver and Canada Task Force 1 in a joint press release with.
Several highways in British Columbia have been closed because of the rain.
Melanie Forsythe said she made at least five detours on her drive home from Vancouver to Hope, British Columbia, when rain washed away a bridge, blocked roads and held her overnight between two mudslides before a helicopter landed on the freeway and took her to Agassiz brought.
Forsythe, who was dating boyfriend Shawn Ramsay and a friend, made it into town about 18 hours after stopping on Highway 7 with nearly 300 other travelers.
“All three of us puffed each other up and said, it’ll be fine, we’ll get out of here. But then we all had moments like, ‘Is that it? Will we be the last time to see our children? ‘ We talked to our parents and our families, but it was just a scary situation, ”she said.
Forsythe said everyone in their vehicle joined about two dozen people on the flight to Agassiz, where nearly 80 others had already arrived from the freeway.
Forsythe said their vehicles are expected to be towed. Their group was about a nine hour drive from home and couldn’t find a hotel room to stay.
Twelve people were rescued from Highway 7 by the local fire department on Sunday evening before the Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team was called on Monday
Jashanpreet Singh and his wife Harleen Kaur were also trapped between the two slides on Sunday, saying they encountered a vehicle that was partially crushed by a slide.
A 9-year-old boy was injured and had blood from his nose and ears, Kaur said. Firefighters, who were first on site on Sunday, were able to bring the boy to care, she said.
The couple were flown out on Monday. Singh said they learned a valuable lesson because they did not have food or water with them.
Flooding in parts of the province also prompted downtown Merritt to issue an evacuation order on Monday warning its 7,000 residents not to use faucet or toilet flush water.
Flood warnings and monitors have been issued on rivers and creeks for areas from Merritt in the south to the border with the United States, the Lower Fraser Region and parts of southern Vancouver Island.
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Vancouver Associated Press Writer Jim Morris contributed to this report.
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