Part of Highway 1 shut down

Flood watches have been issued for rivers and creeks in BC’s west and east Kootenay region and smaller waterways in both the upper and lower Columbia regions.

The BC River Forecast Centre says as torrential rain continues to drench the entire lower portion of the province, from 100 Mile south to the US border and from the Fraser Valley east to the Alberta boundary.

According to the centre, as much as 130 millimetres of rain has fallen over the last 48 hours in the Columbia and Kootenay, with 20 to 70 millimetres recorded in the Boundary, Okanagan and Thompson regions.

Environment Canada predicts conditions will ease within hours everywhere but in southeastern BC.
The storm is blamed for multiple washouts that have cut Highway One in Alberta, forcing the closure of the route east of Golden. It’s not clear when it will reopen.