Region restricts gas, travel after damaging floods

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The British Columbia government is limiting the amount of fuel people can purchase at gas stations in some parts of the province and is restricting non-essential travel as highways begin to reopen following torrential rains that caused floods and mudslides.

Provincial Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said non-essential vehicles will be limited to about 8 gallons per trip to the gas station. The order is expected to last until Dec. 1.

“These steps will keep commercial traffic moving, stabilize our supply chains and make sure everyone gets home safely,” Farnworth said. “We are asking people not to travel through severely affected areas, for their own well-being, but also to make sure the fuel we do have goes toward the services people need in this time of crisis.”

Environment Canada says 24 B.C. communities received close to four inches of rain from Saturday to Monday last week.

The precautionary closure of the Trans Mountain Pipeline during the flooding has raised concerns about a fuel shortage in the province’s Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Assessments of the pipeline continue.

Farnworth said police will not patrol gas stations to make sure customers are complying with the new restrictions.

“The majority of British Columbians will do the right thing,” he said. “If we are greedy, we will fail. It’s that’s simple.”

The government also has prohibited non-essential travel on sections of several highways.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said vehicles transporting essential products or delivering vital services can use the highways. So can people returning to their principle residences after being stranded. “It is not open to recreational or non-essential travel,” he said.

Fleming said the highways between Vancouver and Hope, and from Hope to Princeton had been opened to vehicles. “This will reestablish a vital link allowing for the movement of essential goods and services,” he said.

A section of highway near Pemberton could reopen by Sunday. Four people in the area were confirmed dead in a landslide that swept vehicles off a road. The search continues for a fifth missing person, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Saturday.

The U.S. is temporarily relaxing some permit requirements so trucks can cross into Washington state then re-enter Canada past the damaged highways.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said 959 farms remain under an evacuation order and 50,656 acres remain impacted by the flood.

Darryl Dyck / Canadian Press Southern Railway of British Columbia employees on Friday examine a section of rail line that was damaged and covered in debris from flooding in Abbotsford, British Columbia.