Rainfall warnings have ended for parts of B.C.'s Lower Mainland, but wet weather continues on Sunday for the already-saturated region.
Environment Canada cautioned residents on Saturday to prepare for localized flooding, particularly in Howe Sound and Fraser Valley.
“Precipitation will ease to showers early [Sunday] morning as the system moves off to the east, and we enter the unstable air mass in behind,” Environment Canada’s rainfall warning read.
“We’re looking at about totals of 30 to 50 mm around Metro Vancouver, and then into the valley looking at 50 to 70 mm of rain by the time all of this is said and done,” Environment Canada meteorologist Jonathan Bau told CTV Vancouver.
Though the soggy conditions are typical for B.C.’s South Coast and Lower Mainland in the fall, the region has been hit with three low-pressure systems in recent days.
Paired with strong winds, more rain could exacerbate current province-wide power outages and water drainage issues.
“We had major outages across the province on Tuesday when the first storm hit, on Wednesday we had several thousand customers without power again, and we know that there’s a potential of people losing their power once again,” Mora Scott, a spokesperson from B.C. Hydro, told CTV Vancouver.
City crews in Vancouver have been working persistently to clear catch basins and mitigate flood relief, but officials are now asking for the public to help clear catch basins and keep up with the flow of rain.
“We have over 100,000 trees and 40,000 catch basins,” Vancouver’s general manager of engineering, Jerry Dobrovolny, told CTV Vancouver. “So we certainly need help from the public.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald
