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Hate to be doing this... but we lost four good people up here in Whistler. These people "lived the dream".
As some may know record rains hit Whistler/Squamish/Pemberton.
As a bridge collapsed 4 good people and their vehicles were unluckly on the bridge at the time.
RIP Mike "sweetsie" Benoit (boot pub) Daryl (shoe string lodge)
Jamie(moojoes bar), Ed (moojoes bar).
Thanks for the years/decades of unforgetable memories. (last names witheld)
Tragic...maggot prayers sent your way.
God Bless.
Not good - BC seems to have more than it's share of outdoor related tragedies.
RIP all - Godspeed to you.
RIP. Our condolences go out to their families and friends.
RIP.
:(
RIP. :(
d.
I don't know what it is about this story, but for some reason it seems to have hit me somewhat hard. I never knew these people, but the last work I was doing was to try to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening in the first place. Cali has 8,000+ bridges over waterways, and I was helping to evaluate them to insure the safety and stability of them. Then the budget cutbacks forced the dept. to cut a lot of good people, myself included. Now I hear about bridges falling down and people dying because of it. It just makes me wonder if this might have been preventable.
May those souls RIP, and governments find the $$ to let the engineers do the required work to insure the safety of all.
God bless!
Thanks for the good vibes.
SAR (Search and Rescue)fund raiser soon, possibly tommorow night, for any Whislter/Vancouver Minions/Magots.
Vibes going out to Jamie's little one (4 months old)
Really sorry to hear it man. Let them rest in peace.
Two dead, 800 evacuated in flooding north of Vancouver, B.C.
10:41 AM PDT on Monday, October 20, 2003
Associated Press
PEMBERTON, British Columbia - Floodwaters claimed two lives, left at least two others missing and forced 800 people to flee from areas north of Vancouver following three days of torrential rains, as reported Monday.
Loss of the Rutherford Creek bridge cut the main road access to this town of 10,000 about 80 miles north of Vancouver, and a food airlift began during a break in the weather Sunday, said Bob Bugslag, director of the Provincial Emergency Program in Victoria.
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A man gets stuck on top of a car in the middle of a flood in Pemberton, British Columbia.
"They've had no food delivered since Friday and supplies are now a problem," Bugslag said.
After the local emergency operation center issued a call for food, local restaurants began assembling all they could, Bugslag said.
About 50 homes in town have been damaged, and helicopters were used to deliver heavy-duty pumps to remove water from behind dikes.
Heavy downpours were forecast again Monday, and people who disregarded earlier orders to evacuate were being flown to safety by helicopter.
"We're expecting heavy rain overnight and rain every day for the next five days," Bugslag said.
Most residents remained in good spirits.
"There's no shoving in line at the drug store or the grocery store. I don't think there's any panic that we're going to starve or go without things we need," said Grace Jones, who lives in a local seniors' complex.
Extensive flooding also was reported in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver and in the southern part of Vancouver Island.
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A section of a highway collapses during heavy rainfall near Pemberton, British Columbia.
After a fly-over Sunday, British Columbia Solicitor General Rich Coleman told reporters the cost of rebuilding in ruined areas probably would be at least $7.6 million to $15.2 million.
He confirmed that two people had died and said two others were missing after four were caught in vehicles on a bridge as it was washed out by a river south of Pemberton.
"There's a lot of devastation," Coleman said. "The washout that took place was sudden and fast.
"I don't know how anyone could have predicted that was going to happen ahead of time. It was a massive amount of water that took a pattern way different than anyone expected it to."
One body was found in a jeep after the washout. A red sport utility vehicle that was said to have been carrying three people was still missing.
"One escaped (from the SUV)," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Michelle Friesen said. "Two individuals have yet to be found. It was unsafe to go down by the creek and look around."
No names had been released as of early Monday, Friesen said.
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Two people died after their car plunged down Rutherford Creek after a section of the highway gave way just south of Pemberton, British Columbia.
Helicopter crews spotted a vehicle in the water but couldn't positively identify it. Strong currents kept emergency workers from looking for people who were believed to have been caught swept away in the floods, but hunters combed some river banks.
Coleman said workers were toiling to reopen one lane of British Columbia's Highway 99, the principal route north of Vancouver, between Squamish and Whistler. Equipment was being hauled to Pemberton to construct a temporary bridge.
About 20 people remained in a Squamish trailer park after an evacuation order was issued Friday, then asked for help to leave Sunday, Mayor Ian Sutherland said.
"Water isn't affecting the living areas of the trailers but it's getting up in the crawl spaces," Sutherland said.
How soon evacuees can return home depends on the weather, Coleman said, urging caution as many homes were still surrounded by high water.
"I've had enough experience as minister, having dealt with the floods and fires, to know there are things in nature we can't control," he said.