Following up on summers with severe wildfires, BC has received an ‘atmospheric river’ of rain, in some places a month’s worth in a day.
The floods and landslides have cut off all the highways connecting Vancouver and the lower mainland to the rest of BC and Canada, and the Port of Vancouver has closed down, holding back over $400 million worth of exports per day.
In the National Observer John Woodside has a piece about how these disasters are partly climate-caused, since lost roots and ground cover would have helped hold the soil in place to prevent landslides. Of course, the clearcutting uphill of these slides is both an important cause and an activity that worsens climate change.
The climate emergency has reached BC
https://350canada.medium.com/the-climate-emergency-has-reached-bc-bf5c00899673
Climate making disasters like B.C. rain more frequent and more intense: scientists
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/11/16/climate-making-disasters-like-bc-rain-more-frequent-and-more-intense-scientists.html
First fires, now floods: Why B.C. is caught in a horrific dance between climate extremes
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/11/15/a-dozen-rescued-and-100-still-stuck-in-place-after-mudslides-rock-slides-in-southern-bc.html
Canada floods cut rail link to Vancouver port; one dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZUdg830_As
Deadly storm cuts transport links around Vancouver – BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59314791
Atmospheric Rivers Increase Future Flood Risk in Western Canada’s Largest Pacific River (2019)
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018GL080720#.YZVrH6ZHsFJ.twitter
B.C. declares a state of emergency in response to flooding, mudslides
British Columbians urged not to panic buy
https://www.timescolonist.com/bc-news/bc-declares-a-state-of-emergency-in-response-to-flooding-mudslides-4768971
Flood-damaged Vancouver, southern B.C. railways expected to remain impassable for days
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-flood-damaged-vancouver-southern-bc-railways-expected-to-remain/
Terry Glavin: The scale of the disaster unfolding in B.C. is unprecedented. A summary of the flooding and mudslides unleashed by the “atmospheric river” rainstorm on the weekend, washing out highways and damaging railways, forcing people to evacuate and leaving others trapped. Vancouver, Canada’s busiest port, has lost its road and rail connections to the rest of Canada.
https://www.metafilter.com/193305/BC-floods
The B.C. flooding isn’t just a regional catastrophe – it’s a warning that climate change is coming for everyone
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-bc-flooding-isnt-just-a-regional-catastrophe-its-a-warning-that/
Canada floods: 18,000 people still stranded in ‘terrible, terrible disaster’
Rising flood waters surround buildings in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.
Alarm grows about climate change in British Columbia after summer wildfires wiped out vegetation that could have slowed flooding
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/18/residents-brace-for-torrential-rains-in-already-flooded-western-canada
B.C. floods: Gas to be rationed in some areas, some highways to be essential travel only
https://globalnews.ca/news/8387091/bc-flooding-mudslides-update-november-19-latest/
Western Canada braces for new ‘atmospheric river’, as three more bodies recovered from mudslides
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/21/western-canada-braces-for-new-atmospheric-river-as-three-more-bodies-recovered-from-mudslides
B.C. residents urged not to panic-buy as bare shelves fuel food security angst
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6253190
Port of Vancouver descends into ‘distress’ as B.C. flooding severs rail lines, highways
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-port-of-vancouver-descends-into-distress-as-bc-flooding-severs-rail/
All of southwest B.C. under flood watch as 3rd consecutive storm rolls through
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6269084
Livestock death toll from B.C. flooding: 628,000 poultry, 12,000 hogs, 420 cows
https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/british-columbia/2021/12/2/1_5691405.amp.html