National

Environment Canada issues dust advisory for central and northern B.C.

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Mar, 2024 10:41 AM

Environment Canada has added a dust advisories for a large section of central and northern British Columbia in response to "high concentrations of coarse particulate matter" that it says is most prominent near busy roads.

The new advisories are up for the regions of Prince George, the Lakes District and Bulkley Valley, covering Smithers, Prince George, Vanderhoof and Houston.

An initial dust warning was posted on Saturday for the community of Burns Lake, and all advisories are expected to remain until the region get precipitation.

The weather office is advising people to limit their exposure to high traffic and industrial areas, saying poor air quality is hardest on people with respiratory conditions, pregnant women, seniors and infants.

It says they can also help reduce outdoor air pollution by leaving their car at home and using alternate modes of travel such as walking and cycling.

The weather office says it issued the bulletins in collaboration with the Northern Health authority.

The B.C. government's air quality index says Smithers and Prince George is forecast to reach a level 4 today on the 1-to-10 scale, which is considered a moderate risk

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

The program, which is financed entirely through premiums paid by workers and employers, accumulated $25.9 billion of debt by the end of 2021, according to the Office of the Chief Actuary. The rise in debt comes after a staggering number of Canadians were unemployed during the pandemic and eligibility rules for the program were relaxed to ease access to jobless benefits.

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

British Columbia is enduring a record-breaking dry spell, but farmer Amir Mann says the drought is far preferable to other recent weather extremes. Mann and others involved in agriculture say the downside of the drought, which has required some crops to be irrigated, is offset by benefits such as a longer harvesting period and little rot.

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

West Vancouver Fire Rescue duty chief Matt Furlot says crews responded at around 7 a.m. He said they were trying to pinpoint the exact location of the fire and the best way to access to the flames.

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

At 7:30 p.m. on July 6, a 24-year-old woman reported she had been sexually assaulted while on the escalator at the Granville SkyTrain Station by a suspect who ran away. The investigation was completed by Metro Vancouver Transit Police. A second incident occurred the following day on West Broadway at Ash Street. Just before 2 p.m. a 38-year-old woman was sexually assaulted.

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

The victim – a neighbourhood resident for 30 years – was walking to a bakery near Main Street and East Pender when he was pushed over by a stranger around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. Several witnesses stopped to help the senior, who was taken to hospital.

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

B.C. readies for post-drought flooding: government

Emergency Management BC says when rain falls after long dry spells, the parched soil can increase runoff and river flow. It says the transition to the rainy season doesn't typically cause extensive flooding and the devastation wreaked by last year's atmospheric rivers was rare.