Entire sections of Coquihalla Highway swept away
Deluge of water from freak weather event washes away sections of Hwy 5.
The key highway link between the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland has sustained massive damage following the devastating landslides of Sunday.
The so-called ‘atmospheric river’ weather system that hit southern parts of B.C. has rendered the Coquihalla Highway, Highway 3, and Highway 7 impassable. Many other routes have also been damaged.
Images provided by the Ministry of Transportation show huge destruction on the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt.
An entire section near Othello Road has disappeared.
Also, the southern lanes of the section between Larson Hill and Juliet have been washed away.
Highway 3 – an alternate route to the Lower Mainland – is also closed in both directions east of Hope after a landslide.
Meanwhile, over 250 people were being airlifted away from a section of Highway 7 near Agassiz after they were left stranded on either side of huge debris fields.
Published 2021-11-15 by Glenn Hicks
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