[chris]

Catastrophic rains in British Columbia severed essential road and rail connections between Vancouver and the rest of Canada. Highway 1, a major east-west route, was among the affected corridors.

In the Fraser Canyon, flooding and washouts collapsed a highway section across the river and a rail overpass. The Coquihalla route was also affected, while Merritt flooded at its other end.

The Sumas Lake area was evacuated after the pump system used to keep the former lakebed drained nearly failed, allowing floodwater to return across farmland and the Highway 1 corridor. Merritt's water supply was contaminated by sewage, and all 7,000 residents were evacuated to Kamloops and Kelowna.

Highway 7 was open, and parts of Highway 3 were open, but Vancouver remained cut off by road. Failures on the Malahat Highway and Pacific Marine Highway also severed Vancouver Island routes.