1 body recovered following landslide that displaced B.C. home
Squamish RCMP say emergency crews have found the body of one of the residents whose home was hit by a landslide that closed the Sea to Sky Highway Saturday.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, B.C. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. James Grandy said the search continued for a second person, also believed to be in the house, who remains unaccounted for.
The Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) has reopened between Lions Bay and Brunswick Beach, B.C., after a landslide Saturday that officials say swept one home off its foundations.
DriveBC reported the road, which connects Vancouver to Whistler, B.C., reopened in both directions around 5 a.m. PT Sunday morning.
Emergency officials said Saturday that the slide started in an area above two residential streets, and one home was knocked off its footings.
Trees and debris are pictured across the Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) after a landslide on Saturday. (Miller Capilano Highway Services)
They said Saturday search-and-rescue crews would be using drones and search dogs to assess if anyone was inside that home.
The landslide came after a windstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people along B.C.'s South Coast.
WATCH | Witness descibes Sea to Sky Highway landslide:
Ken Berry, the mayor of Lions Bay, said the landslide had knocked down power lines and gone over train tracks in the village of around 1,400 people.
Ken Berry, the mayor of the Village of Lions Bay, said that the landslide had gone over train tracks and knocked down power lines. (Nav Rahi/CBC)
"We've called upon Canada Task Force One Search and Rescue and they have canine units and they'll be going in and and conducting a more thorough search," he told CBC News Saturday afternoon.
In an update Sunday morning, Berry said several residents had been evacuated, and there were ongoing efforts to rescue others who had been cut off.
A team member with the heavy urban search and rescue team Canada Task Force One is seen in Lions Bay, B.C., on Saturday. (Nav Rahi/CBC)
Barret Germscheid, the village's fire chief and emergency co-ordinator, told CBC News that firefighters were in the area Sunday morning due to reports of downed trees.
Barret Germscheid, Lions Bay's fire chief, says that search-and-rescue crews would only perform searches in the landslide area when it was safe to do so. He is seen here speaking to CBC News late Saturday afternoon. (Nav Rahi/CBC)
Environment Canada had warned Saturday's wind gusts in the Metro Vancouver area could be hit with 70 km/h winds and gusts up to 100 km/h as a low-pressure system moved in.
Police in Surrey, B.C., say a woman died during the storm after she was hit by a falling tree.
