Authorities search for person missing after B.C. mudslide washed away home

VANCOUVER — A search is ongoing for a person believed to have been caught in a mudslide that hit their home and closed British Columbia’s Sea to Sky Highway over the weekend.

RCMP say emergency crews recovered a body of one of the two residents of the home on Sunday, and are actively searching for the second person.

The mudslide near Lions Bay, about 40 kilometres north of Vancouver, came down during a severe windstorm that hit B.C.’s south coast on Saturday.

Highway 99 reopened Sunday after crews were able to clear the debris from the slide that had cut off the route between Vancouver and Whistler.

Several residents had been evacuated as a precaution because of the slide, but Village of Lions Bay Mayor Ken Berry says in a statement that the a notice for two properties has now been rescinded.

The mayor says the local state of emergency will remain, allowing the village to access additional provincial resources.

He says multiple agencies, including the heavy urban search and rescue, police, fire and Metro Vancouver’s emergency management team are involved in the efforts to find the missing person.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press