THURSDAY December 11, 2014 Vol. 29• No. 99 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
THIS PUBLICATION AVAILABLE ONLINE AT comoxvalley record.com
COMOX VALLEY
Enter to Win!
comoxvalleyrecord.com/contests
ARTS
SPORTS
The music of Narnia page 17
Towhees finish fourth in Chilliwack page 25
RECORD A division of
Your community. Your newspaper.
Trade in Y ou
EYEW
TRADE YOUR CURRE NT EYE WEAR IN AT V OGUE OPTICA L $50 OF AND GET F YOUR PURCH ASE. OFFER VALID U NTIL DEC. 31. S FOR DE EE STORE TAILS.
349 B 5
EAR
$50
OFF
th Stree
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
r
t, Court
enay
Mayor Jangula declares state of emergency Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Mountain of toys... Page 3
Basics for Babies... Page 9 Air Canada returns to YQQ..... Page 11 Santa’s Workshop received a substantial spike in gifts on Monday, as a group of geocachers got into the Christmas spirit. If people would have made as much fuss about voting as they have about the post-election councillor appointments, voter turnout would have been much higher.
A state of emergency declared Tuesday morning by the City of Courtenay continued Wednesday due to flooding that caused road closures in various low-lying areas, including the Fifth Street Bridge. Emergency Management BC and BC Hydro expected the flood risk to continue today (Thursday). “It (state of emergency) basically gives emergency personnel extra power to close roads off at random, and it gives us the authority to evacuate people if we feel it is necessary,” Mayor Larry Jangula said. The city has opened its emergency operations centre at City Hall. Some residents at Maple Pool Campground were evacuated Tuesday due to flooding at the low end of the site off Headquarters Road. Of 51 Maple Pool residents who registered with Emergency Support Services, 45 were provided lodging at a hotel. BC Hydro says the Puntledge River watershed has been hammered by heavy rain and subsequent runoff into the reservoir and downstream rivers.
... see EMERGENCY ■ 7
The Courtenay Riverway has flooded its banks and spilled over into Lewis Park, as seen in this photo taken at the west end of Fifth Street Bridge on Tuesday morning. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK
Weather systems continue to batter Comox Valley and Vancouver Island Erin Haluschak Record Staff
With most of Vancouver Island under both wind and rainfall warnings earlier this week, the Comox Valley bore a lot of the brunt of two major weather systems bringing high winds and heavy rainfall. Thanks to tropical moisture, the deep trough over the Pacific Ocean formed along with moisture brought up in the atmo-
❝
It looks like we’re through the worst of it.
❞
Jennifer Hay, Environment Canada sphere from the typhoon in the Philippines, explained Jennifer Hay, meteorologist at Environment Canada. “The stream across the ocean taps into the sub-tropical mois-
Toyota cmyk
ture and transverses over to the west coast,” she said, and added although it appeared intense with back-to-back systems, the storms are not unusual for this time of the year. Monday, the Comox weather station received 59mm of rain, and while the initial storm eased late Tuesday morning and afternoon, a second wind and rainfall warning were issued for another frontal system for the area overnight.
Reports indicate areas outside Comox and Courtenay received even higher rainfall amounts, with Black Creek receiving nearly 95mm. Stephen Watson, stakeholder engagement and communication co-ordinator with BC Hydro, said 100mm of rain fell above the Comox Lake reservoir Monday, and more than 94mm fell Tuesday.
... see WEATHER ■ 7