New storms hits B.C. as it recovers from last one
Pastor Dale Morgan
New storms hits B.C. as it recovers from last one*
Updated Sun. Nov. 19 2006 4:14 PM ET
CTV. News Staff
CANADA - A second set of wind and rain storms hit British Columbia's
Lower Mainland Sunday only days after a storm knocked out power to
250,000 homes and ended with a massive boil-water advisory.
The boil water advisory for just under 1 million people in Vancouver is
expected to remain in place until at least Monday.
But high winds have already started causing problems, causing some
scheduled ferry runs to be cancelled. Wind gusts of 70 kilometres an
hour are forecast.
Rainfall is expected to accumulate to 50 millimetres over the next 24 hours.
The power still isn't back on everywhere after the first storm.
A massive repair and cleanup effort continued over the weekend in many
parts of the Lower Mainland after the storm's violent winds and heavy
rains downed power lines and toppled trees.
One of the last areas to get reconnected to the power grid is the
village of Lions Bay, about 30 kilometres north of Vancouver, where
about 650 homes have been in the dark since Wednesday.
Hydro crews in the area Sunday were ordered to leave because the winds
were too dangerous.
Work crews discovered a 45-centimetre-wide fissure developing in a ridge
overhanging the village on Friday. Worried that the incoming storm might
bring the ridge down on the village, an evacuation alert was issued, and
then was called off when geotechnical experts said it wasn't necessary.
As a precaution, work crews began clearing the overhanging soil on Saturday.
Half to three-quarters of Lion's Bay residents left their village in the
Lower Mainland when the power went out.
Mary Brown, who stayed behind, said she is trying to keep a freezer full
of salmon from thawing. "I have about 100 pounds of salmon here," she
told CTV News on Saturday. "We're camping at home."
Meanwhile, Vancouver entered its third straight day living under a
boil-water advisory on Saturday, with just under one million residents
still subject to strict warnings about tap water consumption after
Wednesday's storm stirred up water supplies.
It is the single largest water advisory in Canadian history, and has led
to widespread bottled water shortages and even a lack of coffee in the
nation's caffination capital.
Many espresso machines are hooked directly into the city's water supply,
and with taps spewing brown water, many baristas have shut off the flow.
Not prepared for emergency
Authorities say that the storm showed British Columbians aren't prepared
for emergencies.
Store shelves were quickly emptied of water on Friday as more than two
million residents responded to the boil water advisory.
"It's a wake up call for everybody to go out and get prepared, Michael
Smith, Vancouver Fire Emergency Preparedness officer, told CTV News.
"The bottom line is that you have to be self-sufficient without
emergency services responding, for at least three days," he said.
Smith said every household should stock four litres of water per person
per day, flashlights and batteries, non-perishable food, duct tape and
first aid supplies.
The good news is that no bacteria or parasites have been detected in the
water, said Dr. Roland Guasparini, the chief medical health officer for
the Fraser Health Authority.
For information about boil-water advisories, including how long to
properly boil tap water for safe drinking, click here.
Advisories were lifted Friday in much of the surrounding area, but about
900,000 people living in Vancouver, the North Shore and Burnaby were
still being advised to boil all tap water before drinking it as of
Saturday morning.
Those areas draw water from the Seymour and Capilano reservoirs, which
were affected by mudslides from this week's storms. Areas where the
advisories were lifted get water from the Coquitlam reservoir, where
didn't suffer from mudslides.
"We're watching the Vancouver situation closely obviously a little
concerned with what's occurred there and we're hoping it will be
resolved shortly," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Saturday
at a news briefing in Vietnam, where he's attending an APEC summit.
Harper said he hopes to speak to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who is in
China on a trade and business development mission, this weekend.
The boil-water advisory was issued on Thursday after the powerful rain
and wind storm on Wednesday stirred up reservoirs and overwhelmed the
water treatment system.
Water coming out of taps was cloudy and brown and authorities were
concerned the particulates in the water would make it harder to
disinfect the water, increasing the risk of gastro-intestinal illness.
Residents were told not to drink the water, wash vegetables with it, or
use it to brush their teeth without boiling it first.
No one sick so far
Health care workers said that so far they haven't seen an increase in
sick people since a boil-water advisory was issued for British
Columbia's Lower Mainland.
But Fraser Health spokeswoman Naseem Nuraney said that it might be
difficult to link symptoms with contaminated water.
"It's the time of year where it's flu season and lots of other things
that are going on so if somebody does go to the hospital sick, it's very
hard to tie it with contaminated water," she told The Canadian Press.
Symptoms from tainted water won't be the same for everyone, and can
emerge within a wide timeframe that can span hours or weeks.
CTV's medical specialist Dr. Rhonda Low told CTV News that people don't
need to worry if they've already drunk some of the water, because the
risk is low and the advisory is a precaution.
If you should start to experience symptoms of abdominal discomfort,
bloating or watery diarrhea, see your family doctor, Low said.
With files from The Canadian Press