US-Canada border towns assess damage from devastating floods

Sumas (US): Residents of this small US city along the Canadian border were assessing damage from flooding that hit an estimated three quarters of homes, as Washington state and British Columbia tried to dry out from an intense, days-long rain storm that cut off key roadways and forced hundreds of evacuations.

Skies were sunny Wednesday morning in the area around Sumas, Washington, where about 500 rescues and evacuations were reported.

“We're looking at going door-to-door, as waters go down in different parts of town,” Sumas Mayor Kevin Christensen told The Seattle Times. “Half is on dry ground, half has water.”

By Wednesday afternoon, only one river in western Washington had active flood warnings.

The soaking fueled by a so-called atmospheric river that dumped torrents rain on the Pacific Northwest and British



Columbia from Saturday through Monday reminded people of western Washington's record, severe flooding in November 1990 when two people died and there were more than 2,000 evacuations.

While the weather was improving, the situation remained dire in British Columbia, where the Canadian government was sending in the military to help with floods and mudslides that destroyed parts of several major highways. One death was reported and officials said Wednesday that more deaths were expected. Immediately across the border from Sumas, police using helicopters and boats had evacuated about 180 residents of a flooded low-lying area of Abbotsford, British Columbia. Evacuations continued Wednesday.  Mayor Henry Braun said Wednesday that conditions were bad overnight because a key pumping station was in danger of being overwhelmed.