RCMP say a woman is missing, after her home along Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge was washed away by floodwaters while she was inside.
Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet tells NL News the woman was not able to evacuate before her home was swept away last Tuesday, Nov. 16.
Lillooet RCMP are now investigating the woman’s whereabouts.
Shoihet says the woman’s family is asking that no further details – including her name – be released at this time.
This woman is in addition to one other person who is considering missing as a result of floods and mudslides in the province. RCMP said on Saturday that four people were killed and one other is considered missing after slide on Highway 99, north of Pemberton.
Another Merritt man who was “last seen being swept away” was found “safe and sound” in Kamloops.
Eighteen sections of Highway 8 damaged: Minister Fleming
Estimates from the province say the Highway 8 corridor could also take months to repair, just like the Coquihalla and the Trans Canada through the Fraser Canyon. A fly-over video posted by BC Hydro shows whole stretches of the road are gone, with water rising so far that families and First Nations communities were cut off.
The electrical provider also estimates at least 75 power poles have been washed away in the raging waters of the Nicola River.
Tuesday afternoon, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says the highway was damaged in 18 sections, all within a 46-kilometre span.
“Four bridges are either gone or damaged,” Fleming said.
“Permanent repairs to the highway are going to take some time and the engineering assessments are underway now. Provincial staff will be engaging with local Indigenous leaders as well as impacted residents and communities in the coming days.”
Fleming notes that work is already underway to get road access restored to area residents.
“Along Petit Creek Road, which is a side road off Highway 8, a temporary bridge has been set up near Canford, about 17 kilometres west of Merritt,” he said. “It will provide alternate access for some Indigenous communities and local residents to use to reconnect to the rest of the province.”