Orange warnings raised over next B.C. deluge, as second death linked to wild weather

The storms had claimed their first known fatality on Saturday in Surrey, B.C., when a tree fell on two vehicles and killed one of the drivers, while a canoeist has been missing in stormy waters off northern Vancouver Island since Friday.

Environment Canada has issued about a dozen wind and rain warnings due to the new series of storms set to lash the southern and central coasts of B.C. until Thursday, after wild weekend weather that temporarily cut power to about 415,000 BC Hydro customers.

More than 250 millimetres of rain is forecast for parts of Vancouver Island, while Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky areas could get more than 160 millimetres, the agency said Monday. Metro Vancouver could get more than 120 millimetres near the mountains.

The province’s River Forecast Centre has also issued a flood watch for much of southwest B.C.

The flood watch covers Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky, parts of Metro Vancouver, most of Vancouver Island, the Central Coast and northern Fraser Valley.

“The heaviest rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, with lingering rainfall continuing through the rest of the week,” the province’s River Forecast Centre said on Monday.

Residents are being asked to stay away from river banks of fast-moving water and to never cross flooded roads or bridges.

Communities have begun preparing for the incoming storms, with the City of Vancouver opening additional shelter spaces on Monday and Tuesday.

“This rainfall event comes on the heels of several low pressure systems that have moved through the region in recent days, already bringing substantial amounts of precipitation to parts of the coast,” Environment Canada said in a weather statement.

Low-pressure systems over the weekend drenched southwest B.C., triggering an evacuation order for about 30 properties in the village of Zeballos on northwest Vancouver Island.

Nearby, the Ma’amtagila Nation along the Central Coast says a man who went to sea on Friday in a canoe is missing in waters off northern Vancouver Island.

The nation says the vessel was found capsized, while Environment Canada says gusts reached 88 kilometres per hour in nearby waters that day.

“There are many beaches and forested areas that searchers have not been able to reach, and as the weather worsens, we desperately need the support of the trained personnel and equipment that exists for this exact situation,” the Ma’amtagila Tribe Society says in an open letter on Facebook pleading for federal search assistance.

“Our community will not stop looking, and we fear the danger they are in.”

Winds reached 116 kilometres an hour on Herbert Island off northern Vancouver Island on Sunday, with Victoria’s airport recording 96 kilometres an hour.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2026.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Orange warnings raised over next B.C. deluge, as second death linked to wild weather

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