“One person was located deceased on Monday, Nov. 15. On Wednesday, Nov. 17, the team recovered another deceased individual, and two additional decedents were recovered on Thursday, Nov. 18. Efforts continued Friday, Nov. 19 to locate a fifth person reported as missing, but unfortunately those attempts were unsuccessful,” British Columbia’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said on Saturday.

To help keep people safe and re-establish the movement of critical goods and services following severe flooding and landslides, the province is taking temporary measures to ensure fuel (gas and diesel) is prioritized for essential vehicles, while keeping it available to British Columbians.

Measures to restrict non-essential travel to and from impacted areas are also being introduced.

“We are asking people to limit their fuel consumption and vehicle travel at this time and are putting in place orders under the provincial state of emergency to support this,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “These steps will keep commercial traffic moving, stabilize our supply chains and make sure everyone gets home safely. We are asking people not to travel through severely affected areas – for their own well-being, but also to make sure the fuel we do have goes toward the services people need in this time of crisis.”

Farnworth has issued two new orders using the extraordinary powers of the Emergency Program Act. The first brings in a temporary order to ensure fuel remains available for essential vehicles in affected areas of the province.

A series of floods affected British Columbia, Canada, and parts of neighboring Washington state in the United States starting in earlier November. The flooding along with numerous mass wasting events was caused by an atmospheric river that brought heavy rain to parts of southern British Columbia and northwestern United States. The natural disaster has prompted a state of emergency for the province of British Columbia.

Of particular concern in southern British Columbia was the severe short-term and long-term disruption of the transportation corridor linking the coastal city of Vancouver, Canada's largest port, to the Fraser Valley, the rest of British Columbia, and the rest of Canada. (ILKHA)