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Provincial state of emergency extended
With recovery efforts still underway in communities affected by severe flooding and highways damaged by flooding and mudslides, the B.C. government is extending the provincial state of emergency.
Given the continued need for public safety measures under the Emergency Program Act and ongoing work to repair damaged highways, the provincial state of emergency is being extended until the end of the day on Dec. 28, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and Emergency Management BC stated this afternoon (Dec. 13).
The order restricting non-essential travel on highways 3 and 99 will remain in place. This includes:
* Highway 3: from the junction of Highway 5 and Highway 3 in Hope to the west entrance to Princeton from Highway 3; and
* from the junction of Highway 99 and Lillooet River Road to the BC Hydro Seton Lake Campsite access in Lillooet (vehicle weight must be no more than 14,500 kilograms).
“While we’re making significant progress in our recovery, there is still a lot of work to do to reopen our highways and get people back into their homes,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “My continued thanks go out to all British Columbians for their patience and compliance during these challenging times.”
“Until we can get these highways open, this order will have to stay in place,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “I am grateful to the people putting in tireless, around-the-clock work to fix our roadways so that people can safely get the goods and services they need.”
The province is allowing the order limiting non-essential fuel use to expire.
This temporary measure limited non-essential vehicles in the Lower Mainland area to 30 litres of fuel (gas and diesel) per trip to the gas station and has been in place since Nov. 19.
With the gradual re-opening of the Trans Mountain Pipeline coupled with shipments of fuel by truck and barge arriving in British Columbia, this order can expire at the end of the day on Dec. 14.
The state of emergency gives the province the ability to use extraordinary powers to protect people and communities.
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