Langley muddied by slides
Accidents mar commute as rain warning issued
Halloween rain created some scary driving conditions for motorists Tuesday and two mudslides in Langley.
Heavy overnight showers triggered a mudslide that washed out a road Wednesday morning in Langley.
Langley RCMP closed 264th Street between 72nd and 84th Avenues in the early morning as a minor mudslide covered the road.
The slide happened just north of the entrance to the Pagoda Ridge golf course on a steep section of road. It was still barricaded at midday and a backhoe worked to remove the debris.
One house on the slope was ordered evacuated as mud lapped the front door, but there were no reports of accidents or injuries there. Later in the morning, a second slide occurred in a wooded area off the shoulder of 252nd Street at 72nd Avenue. It was a minor slide in a ravine off the side of the road. Crews were on scene monitoring the situation at midday, when the road remained open.
There were also early morning commute accidents in Metro Vancouver: in the Massey Tunnel, on Boundary Road at 49th Avenue, at Cambie and Nelson streets, at Main Street and Terminal Avenue, at Broadway and Birch Street.
After 9 a.m., conditions continued to cause crashes. There were accidents reported on the Knight Street and Queensborough bridges, on Highway 1 in Langley near 232nd Street and on Scott Road near Highway 10 in Delta.
Dangling power lines in Langley also closed 200th Street between 8th and 16th avenues.
There is no word on when this week’s drizzle might fizzle.
Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning for much of the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island early Wednesday, forecasting 50 to 70 millimetres of precipitation to fall by Wednesday evening.
The warning is in effect for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound and the Greater Victoria area.
Grey skies are on the horizon for the next week, with rain forecast through to Tuesday in Metro Vancouver and only a slight chance of a patch of sun peaking through Thursday. Temperatures are expected to hover between 11 and 13 C.
Farther out in the Valley, temperatures may get as high as 15 C, but the steady rain holds constant and there is no sun in sight.