The Pacific Northwest and our neighbors to the north have gotten pounded with rain the last few days, as I write this on Nov. 16, 2021.
“The Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are now completely cut off from the rest of British Columbia and the country by road,” notes the KelownaNow website.
While a Reuters story reports, “the port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest, said on Tuesday that all rail access had been cut by floods and landslides further to the east, a development that could hit shipments of grain, coal, and potash.”
The bit of land impacted is populated by a million people, give or take.
One look at the map (below) shows how landlocked this area is. These people are cut off.
Hopefully the situation will be short-lived. But rebuilding roads, bridges, and rail infrastructure takes time.
On the KelownaNow Facebook Page I spotted a story titled, “UPDATE: Helicopters rescue 275 stranded motorists, efforts now turn to debris field”.
We pilots know that helicopters are amazing machines. The ones used by military, law enforcement, and search and rescue are also large and often loud.
If you are stranded, and the only way to safety is by helicopter, I doubt even the most fervent anti-aviation opponent would decline a helicopter ride to safety.
Aviation can be a literal lifesaver.
But we shouldn’t gloat. We’re all on in this together.
This is simply another example of aviation playing an important role in society. We’re just playing our part.
Bravo.
Pretty close to 2.5 million people live in the Vancouver metro area,150% more than noted. Of course they can enter the US to the south, now that the covid restrictions are over, and reenter Canada further east, and of course get supplies right across the border, but point taken.