Four people, including two children, are missing in Canada due to heavy rains in Nova Scotia, police said.
Officials say the heaviest rain in the Atlantic Ocean in 50 years caused flooding and left thousands of homes without power.
In some areas, three months’ worth of rain fell in just 24 hours.
Residents are urged not to join the search for the missing due to dangerous conditions.
Police said the two missing children were in a car submerged in flood water. The other three people in the car managed to escape.
A man and a youth also went missing after the vehicle they were traveling in went under water. Two people were rescued from the vehicle.
Roads were washed out and bridges weakened in Nova Scotia, where a state of emergency was declared in some areas.
“We have a dire and significant situation,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said. At least seven bridges need to be replaced or rebuilt,” he said.
“The property damage at the house … is unimaginable,” he told a news conference.
He estimated it would take several days for the water to recede.
At one point, more than 80,000 people were without power.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was very concerned about the flooding and promised the government would “be there” for the province.
Environment Canada says the heavy rain in the eastern part of the province is likely to continue until Sunday.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in a press release: “People shouldn’t think it’s over. This is a very dynamic situation.”
He added that the city had been hit with “biblical amounts of rain”.
The flooding is the worst weather event to hit northeastern Canada. A large number of areas have been burnt by the recent wildfires.sending a cloud of smoke south into the US.
This month there was a major flood in the US. The body of a two-year-old girl was found on the banks of the Pennsylvania river He is believed to be one of two children swept away by floods last weekend. Her nine-month-old brother is still missing.
Scientists can’t say with certainty that such high rainfall is caused by climate change, but the flooding is. Adaptable to the changes you expect in a warming world. This is because as the temperature of the earth increases, the atmosphere holds more moisture. This results in lots of drops and heavy rain, sometimes over a short period of time and over a small area.