Environment Canada ramped up rainfall warnings on Saturday in British Columbia, where coastal regions are bracing for major downpours through the weekend.
The first atmospheric river of the season is expected to bring up to 150 millimetres of rain to the west coast of Vancouver Island as well as parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as voters cast their ballots in the provincial election.
A handful of voting sites in Kamloops and Langley, as well as on Hornby, Denman and Mayne islands, were temporarily closed in the morning due to power outages.
All have since reopened, and while the electoral office for Port Moody-Burquitlam was experiencing a power outage, Elections BC says the site is open for voters.
The BC Hydro outage map showed several thousand customers were without power in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast Saturday afternoon, along with about 500 on Vancouver Island, down from higher numbers earlier in the day.
B.C.'s River Forecast Centre, meanwhile, issued a flood warning for the Coquitlam River in Metro Vancouver as well as rivers on western Vancouver Island.
Lower-level flood watches span the rest of B.C.'s south and central coast, including the Sea to Sky region and the Lower Fraser River and its tributaries.
The RCMP issued a warning about a possible sinkhole in Langley, saying heavy rain had compromised the roadway's stability and the affected section has been closed.
In nearby West Vancouver, police posted a video on the social media platform X showing a surge of brown floodwater flowing down a sloping city street.
Environment Canada has warned that rainfall this weekend could exceed 180 millimetres over the North Shore mountains, while mountainous areas of western Vancouver Island could see more than 250 millimetres before the rain eases.
The atmospheric river will also roll over the province's southern Interior, with prolonged periods of heavy rain expected to persist through Sunday.
BC Ferries warned Saturday that high winds in the forecast could affect service on the North Strait of Georgia and North Vancouver Island, while DriveBC reported a number of highway and road closures due to washouts or flooding.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
The Canadian Press
