Statement issued by City of Merritt: An Evacuation Order has been issued for the entire City of Merritt.Our staff have been working diligently throughout these changing circumstances with one main priority in mind: the safety and wellbeing of our residents. The flood waters have now inundated two bridges across the Coldwater River, and flood waters prevent access to the third.High flood waters have rendered the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant inoperable for an indefinite period. Continued habitation of the community without sanitary services presents risk of mass sewage back-up and persona

Heavy rain across British Columbia has led to several closures on major highways connecting the Lower Mainland and the Interior region of the province.DriveBC says Highway 5 is closed both ways between Hope and Merritt because of a mudslide, and drivers are being rerouted to Highway 3.It is also reporting that Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon is closed in both directions due to rocks on the road north of Yale.Highway 1 is closed to eastbound traffic east of Chilliwack, as crews respond to a large mudslide through the Herrling Island area.And Highway 11 is closed in both directions for nearl

Over a two-day period, B.C. is reporting 992 new cases of COVID-19, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 211,750 cases in the province:Nov. 10-11: 519 new casesNov. 11-12: 473 new casesThere are currently 4,265 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 204,963 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 384 individuals are currently in hospital and 124 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 48 hours, 23 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,257.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: eig

Vancouver Police are investigating after one man was killed in the city’s 15th homicide of 2021.Yesterday morning, staff at a social housing complex near Main and East Cordova streets found Joshua Hough, 43, deceased in his suite.One arrest has been made, and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call VPD homicide investigators at 604 717 2500.

The latest in a series of weather events is predicted to lash parts of British Columbia. Environment Canada has issued special weather statements for parts of the south coast and southern Interior. The statements for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast say rainfall amounts of 75 to 120 millimetres is on the way Saturday evening and will continue through to Monday. This is the second so-called atmospheric river to sweep over B.C. in the last four weeks and it's expected to arrive as snow in the Boundary region, East and West Columbia, Kootenay Lake and the West Ko

Surrey RCMP has arrested a 28-year old man, who is alleged to have robbed the same Whalley bank twice, only weeks apart.On October 16, 2021, Surrey RCMP received a report of a bank robbery in 10200-block of King George Boulevard. The suspect fled with cash prior to police arrival.Surrey RCMP Robbery Unit conducted an extensive video canvass in the area and were able to obtain a photo of the suspect. The suspect photo was disseminated to all police agencies throughout the province using the Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC-BC). As a result the suspect was identified.On October 30, 2021, the

Mounties in Cranbrook are investigating an act of vandalism against the Kootenay city's cenotaph on Remembrance Day. City workers, firefighters and police scrambled to clean graffiti that read, ``the real heroes are the vaccinated'' before the ceremony took place. Cranbrook wasn't the only B-C community to see COVID-19 vaccine-related disruptions to Remembrance Day memorials. Mounties in Kelowna say officers responded as 75 to 100 demonstrators gathered at the cenotaph just before 11 a-m to speak against vaccine mandates.

Nova Scotia is planning to vaccinate thousands of mink against COVID-19 as it bolsters funding for breeders, but British Columbia says more research is needed to determine if immunization is an option as it phases out its mink industry. That province's Agriculture Department says it's offering 54,000 doses of an experimental mink vaccine imported from the United States as part of a trial on five mink farms, following discussions with the Public Health Agency of Canada. The BC government has announced it's banning mink farming, citing risks posed by COVID-19 outbreaks on three of nine farms in

B.C. is reporting 555 new cases of COVID-19, including three epi-linked cases, for a total of 210,758 cases in the province.There are currently 4,321 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 203,909 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 404 individuals are currently in hospital and 117 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, 11 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,234.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: fiveVancouver Coastal Health: twoInterior Health: oneIsland Health: three