Atmospheric River Drenches BC’s South Coast
Photo Credit: NASA
Beginning on Oct. 19, BC’s South Coast was drenched by an atmospheric river for three days straight, with torrential rains breaking countless rainfall records. The extreme weather caused damaging flash floods and left four people dead. October’s atmospheric river rivaled the unprecedented rainfall of November 2021, which flooded parts of the Pacific Northwest.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, atmospheric rivers are “relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapours outside of the tropics.” The average atmospheric river carries an amount of water vapor that is roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Sonya McIntyre, a 57-year-old school teacher, died on Oct. 19 after her house was swept away by a mudslide on the outskirts of Coquitlam. On the same day, Ken Duncan and Bob Baden, residents of Bamfield, Vancouver Island, died after their vehicles were swept into the Sarita river due to flooding on Bamfield Road.
On Oct. 25, 59-year-old Robert Belding, who went missing on Oct.19 while walking his brother’s dog along the Coquitlam River, was officially found. According to CBC News, a witness had seen Belding fall into the river while trying to save a dog and was "immediately swept away.” The dog was later found alive and well by local residents.
Figures from Environment and Climate Change Canada showed that the extreme weather broke all time rainfall records in Victoria, Squamish, Vancouver, West Vancouver, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Nakusp and the Agassiz and Pitt Meadows areas. According to The Weather Network, several locations experienced a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours.
According to CBC, West Vancouver experienced 134.6 millimetres of rainfall on Oct. 19, beating the city’s old record of 34.8 millimetres set in 1970 by a landslide. Images were posted to social media showing a surge of brown flood water flowing down an inclined street in the city.
Photo Credit: David Nadalini/113 News Radio
Many parts of the Lower Mainland were impacted by the excessive flooding and winds; roads were closed, neighbourhoods were destroyed, and homes across BC lost power.
According to Victoria News, on Oct.19, the BC Hydro outage map showed 2,500 customers without power across the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast after heavy rains and winds, along with about 570 customers on Vancouver Island and 380 in the north.
The aftermath of the atmospheric river also caused problems for city infrastructure. According to the Globe and Mail, the district of North Vancouver declared a state of emergency after debris from the storms were deemed a “safety risk.” Three homes in the Deep Cove area were also ordered to evacuate due to a potential “life safety risk.”