Rescuers in Coquitlam, B.C., are searching for a missing homeowner in the Mount Burke area after they say torrential rain triggered a mudslide and washed away one residence.
The slide came down around noon PT on Saturday, striking a home in the 4200-block of Quarry Road and sending it down the mountainside, Coquitlam Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Young told CBC News.
When his team arrived, Young says they found the road turned into a muddy river and high-voltage hydro lines blocking their entrance into the site. Once those were cleared, Young said they discovered the house had been “completely knocked off the foundation and completely turned into debris.”
He said they believe only one person lived in the home, but don’t know if they were home at the time of the slide. RCMP have attempted to contact the homeowner and are considering them a missing person as of 8 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Young said his crew as well as the provincial Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit were called in to try and find the homeowner, but that they didn’t have any luck before having to shut down their operations for the night.
They plan to resume the search when there is light again Sunday morning.
No other homes were impacted by the mudslide on Saturday, according to the fire chief. Quarry Road was closed between Calgary Drive and MacIntyre Road.
The provincial River Forecast Centre issued a flood watch for the Coquitlam River, which means flooding is imminent and water has exceeded river banks, at 11:15 a.m. PT on Saturday.
Areas across southwestern B.C. have been dealing with flooded roadways and power outages Saturday as an atmospheric river sweeps through the region.
Environment Canada says 90-150 millimetres of rain will fall in Metro Vancouver, parts of the Fraser Valley and the Sea-to-Sky corridor by Sunday, while rain on the North Shore could potentially exceed 180 millimetres.
3 hikers rescued
Earlier in the day, Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR) had to use a rope system to save three separate hikers who got trapped near Pritchett Creek on Burke Mountain when water flooded a culvert and created an impassable river.
“It was quite dangerous. Very strong amounts of debris coming down,” Coquitlam SAR manager Ray Nordstrand told CBC News.
A 22-member team hiked up the mountain for three hours to reach the hikers and eventually deployed a rope system across the newly formed river to get them to safety. All three made it out uninjured, but mildly hypothermic, according to Nordstrand.
“They were soaking wet. One of the hikers was only wearing shorts.”
Coquitlam search and rescue crews had to use a highline rope system on Saturday to rescue three separate hikers who became stranded near Pritchett Creek when the river became impassable. (Coquitlam Search and Rescue)
Ridge Meadows SAR leader Ryan Smith told CBC News his team is on standby to assist with any possible evacuations in the Lower Mainland region. He said crew members have been deployed to their base and are making sure rafts, kayaks and other rescue equipment are ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Smith also cautioned people from going near waterways.
“It doesn’t take a lot of swift water to wash somebody off their feet.”