B.C. flooding: Military reconnaissance teams on the ground to assess needs | Globalnews.ca

Additional military teams are now on the ground and in the air around British Columbia as part of emergency assistance efforts as the province grapples with catastrophic flooding.

The Canadian Forces sent in an additional Hercules search-and-rescue aircraft as well as a Griffon and Cyclone helicopter that will be helping with the emergency response efforts.

“Activities will include providing assistance with evacuations, transport of emergency response personnel and equipment, and area reconnaissance,” said the military in a statement earlier in the day.

Members from the military’s disaster response unit based in Edmonton are also now in B.C. and will be doing “reconnaissance and coordination” ahead of future operations and resources coming in.

The exact number of members who will be deployed remains in flux, as do the specifics for where further military assets will go in the province once officials wrap up the work to identify key needs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday night that “hundreds” of Canadian Forces members have been deployed as the work gets underway and that the federal Incident Response Group will be meeting to look for any further ways the federal government can help.

Thousands of others are on standby, he said.

READ MORE: As more military troops head to B.C., experts call for civilian disaster response solution

Examples of support that could come include transport assistance, logistics chain support to get resources from one point to another, and humanitarian aid, though details remain to be settled.

Three military helicopters and a search-and-rescue aircraft were sent into the Fraser Valley earlier in the week after hundreds of people were trapped on roads by landslides and cut off from help.

According to the Royal Canadian Air Force, the aircraft and crew were able to evacuate a total of 311 people as well as 27 animals to safety in the city of Agassiz.

The province is grappling with catastrophic damage from severe rainfall over the course of Sunday and Monday that has flooded whole communities and washed out vital transportation links connecting the cities of the province, and connecting Vancouver to the rest of the country.

The Coquihalla Highway is snapped in two from the flooding and could take weeks or even months to restore. The highway is a major route between the cities of B.C.’s Lower Mainland and those in the Interior, and was one of several key roads damaged in the floods.

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Military to assist with B.C. flood recovery