It鈥檚 officially the first day of summer and all weather warnings have been lifted in B.C. after rain and storms walloped parts of the province this week, causing mudslides and highway closures.
Environment Canada forecasters have lifted the heavy rainfall warning for southeastern B.C. but some highways remained closed because of the flooding in Alberta, while others opened to single lane traffic.
The Trans Canada at Golden reopened Friday afternoon to eastbound passenger vehicles only but remains closed east of Banff.
Drive BC says the highway is shut down because of the flooding in Alberta and travellers should consider using Highway 5 and Highway 16 as alternate routes.
Highway 1 eastbound at Cariboo Road in Coquitlam has reopened, however Highway 93 east of Radium remains closed.
A washout also severed Highway 31A between New Denver and Kaslo in the Kootenays on Thursday. On Friday aternoon the highway reopened to single lane alternating traffic as crews continue to deal with two separate mudslides north of Kaslo.
In Fernie, heavy rains forced the city to declare a local state of emergency Friday morning. The city had not issued any evacuation orders.
The community of Elkford also declared a local state of emergency due to flooding.
The unique wet weather system that came up from the Gulf of Mexico is causing such devastation because it鈥檚 a slow-moving precipitation stream studded with thunderstorms, explained Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald.
鈥淭he rainfall intensities were super heavy; that was the real key. When it rains that hard, that fast, the soil just doesn鈥檛 have the ability to absorb all that rain,鈥� he said.
The same system caused much more damage across the Alberta border, where 12 communities, including Canmore and High River, declared states of emergency due to flooding Thursday. Six neighbourhoods in Calgary were also under an evacuation order.
MacDonald said Alberta will have to endure a few more days of rain, with the system finally easing up on Saturday or Sunday.
with 91原创 Sun files
