'It's overwhelming': Victims of B.C.'s atmospheric river mourned

Ken Duncan was familiar with the extremes of B.C. weather.

Born and raised in the Alberni Valley, a region surrounding the Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island, the 52-year-old was a "west coaster through and through," his family says in an online obituary.

He "did not take unnecessary risks," said cousin Tyler Thompson in an interview with CBC News. He was familiar with the dangers of heavy rain and "turned around more than once" when faced with adverse weather conditions on the road.

But on Oct. 19, as an atmospheric river weather system brought torrential rain to much of southern B.C., Duncan and his vehicle were swept into the Sarita River, where he died.

He was one of at least three victims of extreme weather that battered the province over the weekend, with an atmospheric weather system bringing more than 250 millimetres of rain between Friday and Saturday, setting several records and devastating affected communities.

WATCH | 2 dead in Vancouver Island river:

2nd person confirmed dead in Vancouver Island washout

2 days ago

Duration 1:57

A second person has been confirmed dead on Vancouver Island after an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C. over the weekend. As Michelle Morton reports, the washout happened near the small community of Bamfield on the west coast of the island, where the losses are being profoundly felt.

A second motorist Bob Baden was also swept into the Sarita River along the same stretch of road.

Also dead, school teacher Sonya McIntyre of Coquitlam, east of Vancouver,who was killed when her house was swept away by a mudslide brought on by the weekend's storm.

Meanwhile, family is searching for Robert Belding, 59, who is believed to have fallen into the surging Coquitlam River trying to rescue a dog the following day.

"We're pretty distraught," said Belding's daughter, Jessica, in an interview on her cellphone while she was out searching for her dad on Wednesday. "I think some of us are pretty numb because it just doesn't seem real. It's getting harder by the day."

Sade Leschuk, who McIntyre taught in elementary school, said she was shocked to learn her favourite teacher had been killed as rain swept through the community.

"She was the only teacher I'd ever accidentally called mom," she said. "We all just adored her She was an amazing teacher to all of us and had a lasting impact on all of our students."

WATCH | Coquitlam residents reel as 1 dead, 1 missing:

Crews search for man believed to have fallen into Coquitlam River

3 days ago

Duration 2:13

CBC News speaks to the family of a man believed to have fallen into the swollen Coquitlam River on Sunday, as search-and-rescue crews and police continue their search.

Former student talks about her teacher whodied in mudslide:

Former student of Coquitlam teacher who died in mudslide reflects on her impact

2 days ago

Duration 2:38

Sonya McIntyre, a teacher at Aspenwood Elementary School, died on the weekend after her Coquitlam home was washed away in a mudslide caused by heavy rainfall and flooding from an atmospheric river. Sade Leschuk, who McIntyre taught in Grade 3, remembers the teacher fondly.

Community in mourning

But the impact of the weekend's weather is perhaps being most profoundly felt in Bamfield, a community of about 200 people in the midst of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and Huuy-ay-aht Nations land, surrounded by dense coastal forests and strong connections to the water.

Both Duncan and Baden were described as important contributors to the community, which is about 200 kilometres by road northwest of Victoria. As news of their deaths was shared, businesses closed to mourn.

"They're very tight-knit communities, very small populations in a remote area, and people living there learn to depend on each other," said Bob Beckett, a regional district director who knew both of the deceased.

"It's, quite frankly, overwhelming for a small community to lose folks like this."

He said Baden ran a hardware store in the heart of Bamfield for decades and was known as "Bob the Builder" to locals who needed supplies.

Duncan, meanwhile, had worked for the Huuy-ay-ayt Group of Businesses and, while a carpenter by trade, was really a "jack of all trades," according to cousin Tyler Thompson.

"He was known for his exceptional craftsmanship and transformed ordinary spaces into works of art," which "will be remembered for generations."

Thompson also knew Baden and said he was known for his "unwavering commitment to helping others" who "exemplified the spirit of Bamfield."

'They did not take chances'

In an interview, Thompson and other family members repeatedly emphasized that neither of Baden nor Duncan were prone to taking risks or underestimating rain warnings.

"They were not tourists," he said. "That's what we really want everybody to know, is they did not take chances."

Officials have yet to publicly share details, but Thompson says it's his understanding that there had been a logjam upstream in the Sarita River that was washed away Saturday, causing a sudden rush of water to surge onto the roadway, taking the travellers with them.

Huu-ay-aht First Nation Chief Councillor and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District chair John Jack said the deaths underline the importance of something he's been working on for years upgrading roadways to withstand extreme weather, as well as communication protocols when the risks of travel are too high, a problem that becomes more urgent as weather events become more extreme.

"Who monitors the road? Who makes the call when it's closed? How do we communicate the status of the road? Those are things we need to discuss with industry and the province, I think," Jack said. "We definitely have to have more conversations about not only doing things differently on that road to help protect lives but accessing more resources to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

That sentiment was echoed by Beckett, who spent his career as an emergency responder.

"More and more, we have to have folks think very carefully about how weather is going to impact us," he said. "With weather patterns changing, it is going to get worse, and we are going to have to take a look at that."