Close X
Sunday, October 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Witness told rescuers missing B.C. man swept down the rain-swollen Coquitlam River

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Oct, 2024 03:25 PM
  • Witness told rescuers missing B.C. man swept down the rain-swollen Coquitlam River

A witness reported seeing a man who's been missing since Sunday fall into the swollen Coquitlam River as he tried to rescue a dog, and was "immediately swept away," a local search and rescue manager said on Wednesday. 

Ian MacDonald said Coquitlam Search and Rescue received the report about 59-year-old Robert Belding on Tuesday.

Belding's daughter, Jessica Belding, said she remains hopeful her dad will be found alive several days after his disappearance.

She said her father and his brother went to a friend's home that borders the Coquitlam River to help with a flooded basement. Her dad took his brother's dog for a walk, but didn't return, Belding said.

Coquitlam was one of the hardest-hit areas as an atmospheric river weather system rolled over southern B.C. last weekend, dumping more than 250 millimetres of rain on the Metro Vancouver community.

Belding said she and other family members began searching on Sunday night, and while they found the wet dog, there's been no sign of her father. 

"We're pretty distraught," she said in an interview on her cellphone while she was out searching for her father on Wednesday.

"I think some of us are pretty numb because it just doesn't seem real. It's getting harder by the day."

She said her dad enjoys the outdoors and she's hopeful he wasn't too badly hurt, that he "managed to stay conscious," and is somewhere they haven't looked yet. 

Belding said there is overwhelming support from community members asking her how can they help, though people should stay off the water for safety reasons. 

"But if anyone is in the area and they want to help, just keeping an extra eye, taking that extra time to look while they're walking … just to see if they see any sign of someone somewhere, even in the bushes or on the side of the bank or anything."

MacDonald, a search manager with Coquitlam Search and Rescue, said the effort to find Robert Belding has included helicopter flyovers and a marine team that searched the area where the Coquitlam River flows into the Fraser River.

MacDonald said his team would be flying over the river again on Thursday or Friday. 

He said the water level in the river is often low in summertime, flowing lower than a person's knees, but it turned into a "raging" torrent during the weekend downpours.

B.C.'s River Forecast Centre had issued a flood warning for the Coquitlam River, although it was downgrading to a flood watch by Sunday and has since been rescinded.

MacDonald said the water was still about 1.5 metres deep on Tuesday. 

"It was very high. It was moving very fast, and it was full of debris," he said "There (were) trees and bits of wood and dead fish, all kinds of things in the water as well."

At least three deaths have been linked to the torrential rain over the weekend.

A woman was killed Saturday when her home was swept away in a mudslide on the outskirts of Coquitlam, and two others died on the west coast of Vancouver Island when a road washed out and an overflowing river submerged their vehicles.

Jonathan Helmus, director of utilities with the City of Coquitlam, said the rain was very intense, greater than a one-in-200-year event. 

"We were the hardest hit in the Lower Mainland and it's the most significant storm we've ever seen," Helmus said in an interview on Wednesday.

The city had prepared by inspecting culverts and other critical infrastructure, sweeping roads and ensuring around-the-clock coverage by crews, he said, in addition to Coquitlam's longer-term planning for watershed management and climate change.

By comparison, Helmus said the atmospheric river that deluged southwestern B.C. in November 2021 brought 100 millimetres of rainfall to Coquitlam in 24 hours.

The District of North Vancouver said it is triaging resources after the community was "drenched" with nearly 350 millimetres of rain over the weekend. 

A statement on the district's website said teams were focusing on immediate "life safety" issues stemming from the storm, as well as emergency repairs, debris removal and assessing the full extent of the damage.

"North Vancouver is well accustomed to heavy rain and stormy weather. However, no weather event in recent years has brought this much rainfall here," it said.

The district declared a local state of emergency on Sunday and ordered six homes evacuated in the Deep Cove neighbourhood, when an inspection found potential failure of private infrastructure that could create a public safety risk. 

Images shared on social media on Saturday showed brown torrents of water pouring down on waterfront homes on Panorama Drive in Deep Cove.

MORE National ARTICLES

First GST/HST credit payment set for July 5

First GST/HST credit payment set for July 5
The Canada Revenue Agency says single Canadians could get up to $519 over the course of the four payments, while those who are married or have a common-law partner could get up to $680. 

First GST/HST credit payment set for July 5

New poll on PM's future

New poll on PM's future
A Leger poll, conducted online of 1,521 people between June 28 and June 30, found two-thirds of those who responded believe Trudeau will remain as party leader all the way to the next election.

New poll on PM's future

Sudden death of a man in Vancouver

Sudden death of a man in Vancouver
Police in Vancouver are asking for the public's help to identify two men who they say might have information about the sudden death of another man. They say the 35-year-old man was found dead in his apartment in the city's West End neighbourhood on May 30th.

Sudden death of a man in Vancouver

Targeted shooting in Kamloops

Targeted shooting in Kamloops
Kamloops R-C-M-P say a 40-year-old man known to police has suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries after a targeted shooting that officers believe to be gang-related. Police say it happened last night in the 170 block of Tranquille Road.

Targeted shooting in Kamloops

48 year old Inderjit Singh Sandhu sentenced to life in imprisonment for killing wife Kamaljit Sandhu

48 year old Inderjit Singh Sandhu sentenced to life in imprisonment for killing wife Kamaljit Sandhu
Police say a 48-year-old Abbotsford man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole eligibility for 13 years for murdering his wife. Inderjit Singh Sandhu pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder in connection with the July 2022 homicide in the Fraser Valley city.

48 year old Inderjit Singh Sandhu sentenced to life in imprisonment for killing wife Kamaljit Sandhu

Environment Canada issues multiple warnings as B.C. braces for weekend heat

Environment Canada issues multiple warnings as B.C. braces for weekend heat
The six warnings span Vancouver Island, where they will be in effect from Friday until early next week, and the North Coast including Kitimat and Terrace, where the warnings will be in place from Saturday until Tuesday night.

Environment Canada issues multiple warnings as B.C. braces for weekend heat