Emergency officials say one of two unaccounted for people has been found dead following a landslide that closed the Sea to Sky Highway Saturday, amid a coastal windstorm.
Emergency officials say the search continues for a 2nd person who remains unaccounted for
CBC News
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Squamish RCMP say emergency crews have found the body of one of the residents whose home was hit by a landslide that closed the Sea to Sky Highway Saturday.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, B.C. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. James Grandy said the search continued for a second person, also believed to be in the house, who remains unaccounted for.Â
The Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) has reopened between Lions Bay and Brunswick Beach, B.C., after a landslide Saturday that officials say swept one home off its foundations.
DriveBC reported the road, which connects Vancouver to Whistler, B.C., reopened in both directions around 5 a.m. PT Sunday morning.
Emergency officials said Saturday that the slide started in an area above two residential streets, and one home was knocked off its footings.
They said Saturday search-and-rescue crews would be using drones and search dogs to assess if anyone was inside that home.
The landslide came after a windstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people along B.C.’s South Coast.
WATCHÂ | Witness descibes Sea to Sky Highway landslide:Â
Witness describes ‘carnage’ of B.C. landslide
B.C.’s Sea to Sky Highway — the highway that connects Vancouver and Whistler — was closed in both directions on Saturday after a massive landslide. CBC’s Sohrab Sandhu reports from the scene near Lions Bay.
Ken Berry, the mayor of Lions Bay, said the landslide had knocked down power lines and gone over train tracks in the village of around 1,400 people.
“We’ve called upon Canada Task Force One Search and Rescue and they have canine units and they’ll be going in and and conducting a more thorough search,” he told CBC News Saturday afternoon.
In an update Sunday morning, Berry said several residents had been evacuated, and there were ongoing efforts to rescue others who had been cut off.
Barret Germscheid, the village’s fire chief and emergency co-ordinator, told CBC News that firefighters were in the area Sunday morning due to reports of downed trees.
Environment Canada had warned Saturday’s wind gusts in the Metro Vancouver area could be hit with 70 km/h winds and gusts up to 100 km/h as a low-pressure system moved in.
Police in Surrey, B.C., say a woman died during the storm after she was hit by a falling tree.Â
With files from Sohrab Sandhu and The Canadian Press
