This tragedy did not occur in isolation. Earlier in the week, on Monday, the body of a woman was recovered from the same landslide area—marking the first confirmed fatality linked to the severe weather system that has hammered southern British Columbia. Her death signaled what many feared: the heavy rainfall, flooding, and cascading slope failures were not just damaging property—they were costing lives. In recent years, B.C. has endured a string of extreme weather events, from wildfires and heat domes to atmospheric rivers and catastrophic flooding. Scientists and emergency officials have repeatedly warned that intense rainfall over the province’s steep terrain can rapidly destabilize hillsides, especially in areas where soil has already been weakened by drought or fire. In this case, last weekend’s extreme rain accelerated those risks, creating a chain reaction of flooding, blocked highways, washed-out roads, and sudden landslides that trapped travelers, stranded communities, and overwhelmed response teams across the region. Continue reading…
