Atmospheric river brings heavy rain to B.C.'s South Coast

An atmospheric river brought heavy rain and localized flooding to Metro Vancouver Sunday morning.

CTV News cameras in Burnaby captured images of vehicles driving through standing water on Still Creek and Westminster avenues.

In New Westminster, the Brunette River was running high and fast with rainwater. Meanwhile the city of Vancouver said staff had been called to 30 reports of catch basin flooding issues.

One expert says issues with civic infrastructure that arise during these weather events can signal the need to adapt and rethink planning priorities and processes.

Large paved areas like parking lots are one example of this, according to UBC professor Younes Alila, who works in the faculty of forestry.

"The larger of the portion of watershed that is paved, the bigger is the run off, the more severe is the flooding, and also less opportunity for that rain or snow to infiltrate and recharge the ground water table."

Alila also notes that the rain that drenched the region followed a period of record-high temperatures and drought – underscoring the need to plan for extreme events that are the "Hallmark signature" of climate change.

“When the weather is becoming more variable like that, causing the hydrological response of the landscape to be also highly variable over time, it is shown in the science that it can cause extreme droughts and extreme floods to be much more severe and surprisingly much more frequent.”

Rainfall warnings were in effect for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound and Whistler Sunday, with 50 to 70 millimetres of rain in the forecast in most regions.

Winds in the 50 to 70 km/h range were also expected, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Heavy rain was expected to ease in the evening, according to Environment Canada.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Abigail Turner

In New Westminster, the Brunette River was running high and fast with rainwater. (Tanya Boguski/CTV)