A North Vancouver high school will be closed Tuesday after heavy rain Monday night caused flooding and evacuations in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley neighbourhood.
Argyle Secondary School was flooded late Monday night along with numerous homes, according to The District of North Vancouver. The district’s fire department was on scene in near Fromme Road after Hastings Creek flooded its banks late Monday night.
Early Tuesday morning, the district tweeted that some residents were returning to their homes, except in 3500 and 3600 blocks of Fromme Road. RCMP is still on site “as road is still hazardous there.”
In a statement posted on its website at 5 a.m., the district said 17 homes were evacuated in Lynn Valley and Gallant Creek in Deep Cove also overflowed.
“It is not yet known what caused the creeks to overflow. District crews will investigate further in the morning,” the statement said.
The district activated its Emergency Operations Centre, according to the statement, and about 40 crew members responded to redirect the flow and to clear the roads of debris. The fire department reported flooding shortly before 11:30 p.m. in the Upper Lynn Valley area, warning residents to stay away from all creeks.
District of North Vancouver asst. fire chief Michael Cairns says heavy rainfall caused culverts in roughly five different areas across the North Shore to overflow. He says crews spent the night clearing creeks with heavy machinery and diverting water flow from houses.
He says the flooding has mostly subsided, and municipal crews will spend the day clearing debris.
Up to 86 millimetres of rain battered the North Shore over the past 24 hours as a strong frontal system moved through B.C.’s south coast.
The heavy rain could also lead to flooding in some low-lying areas as the ground throughout the region is already close to the saturation point. Residents are being asked to stay away from washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.
Authorities in West Vancouver were also busy Monday night with multiple calls about flooded homes. West Vancouver Fire tweeted that there was some flooding on streets in Dundarave area.
A rainfall warning was issued for Metro Vancouver and portions of the Fraser Valley and Howe Sound earlier Monday. On Tuesday morning, Environment Canada said Coquitlam and Burnaby were each hit with more than 70 millimetres of rain overnight, while Pitt Meadows, Squamish and Maple Ridge saw more than 50 millimetres. More than 30 millimetres fell at the Vancouver aiport.
The rain is expected to taper off to showers by Tuesday morning.
The downfall could also lead to flooding in some low-lying areas as the ground throughout the region is already close to the saturation point. Residents are being asked to stay away from washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.
Meanwhile, two cyclists and two pedestrians were sent to hospital with various injuries after being hit during a wet, dark rush hour Monday evening, according to B.C. Ambulance Services spokesman Ben Mittelsteadt.
A pedestrian hit at Burnaby’s Hastings Street and Inlet Drive around 5:15 p.m. was sent to hospital in critical condition, Mittelsteadt said. Another pedestrian hit in Coquitlam at Landsowne and Eagleridge drives around 5:45 p.m. was also sent to hospital in critical condition, he added.
In Burnaby, a cyclist was sent to Vancouver General Hospital in serious condition after being hit at Patterson Avenue and Castlewood Crescent around 5:30 p.m., Mittelsteadt said.
About 20 minutes earlier in Abbotsford, another cyclist, in his 50s, was hit by a delivery truck and sent to hospital conscious but with injuries, according to Abbotsford police spokesman Const. Ian Macdonald.
Macdonald said authorities often deal with more crashes the first night of commuting after people set their clocks back an hour each fall.
