Evacuations, road closures and plenty of cleanup after B.C. flooding, landslides

Several British Columbia communities are cleaning up and digging out after a storm swept over the southern part of the province on Friday, prompting flooding and landslides.

Local states of emergency were declared in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the District of Kent in the Fraser Valley.

Both areas were overwhelmed with up to 140 millimetres of rain Friday that washed out or flooded major roads and forced the evacuation of dozens of people.

Kent Mayor Sylvia Pranger says about 40 homes were evacuated north of Harrison Hot Springs when Rockwell Drive washed away.

As many as 500 people in Hemlock Valley and at the Sasquatch Mountain ski resort were trapped with no alternate route out when a kilometre of road was taken out by a mudslide.

The Transportation Ministry said it may be several days before the Hemlock Valley Road could be restored enough to allow for single-lane traffic.

The border crossing between Abbotsford, B.C., and Sumas, Wash., has also been closed because water overwhelmed the U.S. town of Sumas, leaving no through route for drivers heading north or south.