Photo courtesy BC Ministry of Transportation Highway 1 Fraser Canyon

By Caden Fanshaw

BC STORM

Prince George residents stranded in devastating BC storm

Nov 15, 2021 | 5:47 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – With the Lower Mainland cut off from the rest of Canada on Monday night by road, several Prince George residents and northern British Columbians have found themselves wondering when they’ll be able to get home.

“I’ve lived in Prince George all my life, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” says Brenda MacDougald who is trying to wait it out in Chilliwack.

The Coquihalla Highway was closed as of late Sunday, and by mid-morning Monday Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon, Highway 3 Princeton-Hope, Highway 7 near Aggasiz, and Highway 99 near Lillooet had all been closed due to flooding or mudslides.

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MacDougald hopes to get home in time for a pre-booked trip to Las Vegas, although she worries she won’t make it back to BC’s Northern Capital in time by road.

The Northern Capitals U18 hockey team was also stuck in the mainland but Head Coach Mario Desjardins says the girls are making the best out of their time waiting for the road conditions to become driveable.

This as images circulate online of severely damaged highways in the southern half of BC and a timeline on when any may re-open is still unknown.

Several other Prince George residents who tried to travel by air home to BC’s Northern Capital were also out of luck on Sunday and for most of Monday as flights could not land at YXS due to fog.

Jenny Lynn was on a flight from YVR to YXS Sunday evening that was unable to land after circling Prince George for over 20 minutes and ended up returning to Vancouver.

Lynn spoke to CKPG News and says the experience was an adventure she was not entirely expecting although she was happy to be safe and sound.

Flights in and out of Vancouver were delayed by hours at times throughout the day Monday as the airport continued to deal with extreme winds and extreme rain.

The entire community of Merritt was also evacuated on Monday due to widespread flooding across the Nicola Valley which lead to several homes being lost.