Deadly B.C. flooding prompts more evacuations, highway closures

June 25, 2012 – CANADA – Hundreds of British Columbians are away from their homes, others are without clean drinking water and at least one person is dead as a weekend of heavy rain flooded homes and washed away roads in several areas of the province. Hardest hit is Sicamous, a community of about 3,100 people north of Kelowna, where about 350 people have been ordered to leave their homes due to flooding along the Sicamous and Hummingbird Creeks. At least one home has been swept away and many more have been damaged, along with dozens of cars after flash floods tore through Sicamous neighborhoods, between Shuswap and Mara Lakes. There have been smaller evacuations in other areas, such as in Valemount, just west of the B.C.-Alberta boundary near Jasper, Alta., and residents in a number of communities have been told to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. In the Kootenays, emergency officials say 72-year-old Edward Posnikoff was killed Saturday night after he was swept away along with a bridge over Goose Creek. The flooding has also made travel through the province difficult or impossible in some areas, as mudslides and floods force closures on the Trans-Canada Highway near Revelstoke and Highway 97A south of Sicamous, and reduce traffic on other routes. –Globe and Mail