Two dead, one missing after boating incident on Squamish Valley Road

Two people have been confirmed dead and a third is still missing after a boating incident on the 15900 block of Squamish Valley Road, Squamish RCMP said, according to Daily Hive Vancouver.

Police responded at around 1:52 p.m. on Nov. 12. B.C. Emergency Health Services said it received a call about the incident at 2:48 p.m. and that no patients needed to be taken to hospital. RCMP said elevated water levels and difficult weather made search, rescue and recovery work that day extremely difficult and unsafe for responders. Operations were continuing on Nov. 13.

Help has come from the Lower Mainland. North Shore Rescue said on Facebook that its swiftwater and hoist crews were back in Squamish assisting Squamish SAR and the RCMP, after a mutual aid request.

The incident follows a week of high water in the Sea to Sky corridor. Jeremy Valeriote, the MLA-elect, said he was devastated by the deaths and that his thoughts were with families and loved ones. He said communities had spent the past week dealing with severe flooding, warnings, evacuations and disruption.

An atmospheric river caused severe flooding in one part of the Squamish Valley, and the District of Squamish has posted flood updates on Facebook saying the system is weakening. RCMP asked the public to stay off the water because of dangerous flow rates and said they will not release more information at this time.