Thousands of animals have died in flood areas in western Canada, while other animals are still trapped by the floods caused by heavy rain.
Heavy rain fell over large areas in the province of British Columbia, western Canada, and the state of Washington, northwest of the United States.
The rainfall amounted in just two days, which usually falls in a month, causing floods and mudslides that closed highways, and forced thousands of people to leave their homes, while one person was killed and several others missing, according to the newspaper "The Guardian".
Abbotsford, one of Canada's most important agricultural regions, was among the places hardest hit by the floods.
Abbotsford contains more than 1,200 farms, including livestock, chicken and cows, and provides half of the dairy, eggs and poultry products consumed by British Columbia's 5.2 million people.
Flood waters swept through several barns, and farmers and residents tried to save their animals, after the water level rose, and some of them used marine vehicles to pull the cows from the flooded areas to higher ground.
This powerful storm comes months after wildfires spread in the Canadian province and the US state, and high temperatures that caused hundreds of deaths at the time, due to climate change, according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper says that damage to highways and railways, due to landslides and floods in British Columbia, could take weeks, months and possibly more to repair.
It is expected that the losses will be huge, and the costs of repairing damages to property, infrastructure and the agricultural sector will be high, and experts estimate this to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
British Columbia officials described the flooding as the "worst in a century" and Provincial Premier John Horgan declared a regional emergency, the newspaper reported.
In the United States, some areas of Washington state, adjacent to the border with Canada, were subjected to flooding, which caused flooding of shops and homes, property losses, and the closure of some roads.
After the heat wave that hit the region during the summer, Horgan warned that "these phenomena have become regular due to the repercussions of climate change," according to AFP.
The imposition of the state of emergency aims to reopen highways closed for several days, affecting the supply network. Bad weather also halted traffic in Vancouver Harbor.
He advised the people of the region to avoid movement to give priority to transporting basic goods, emergency equipment and medical staff. The state of emergency will last for 14 days and is subject to extension.
Before that, the Canadian government announced sending "air support from the Canadian Forces to assist in evacuation efforts, support supply channels and protect residents from floods and landslides."
"Hundreds of Canadian Air Force personnel are on their way to provide assistance," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding that thousands of military personnel could be sent to the region.
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