Intense B.C. storm leads to dramatic rescues in White Rock, Maple Bay

The powerful storm that whipped through B.C.'s South Coast Thursday led to two dramatic rescues ofpeople caught in trouble on the water.

In White Rock, a 42-year-old manhad to be rescued by a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter after he was trapped onthe shattered White Rock pier.

Capt. Stu Robertson with theVictoria Joint Rescue Co-Ordination Centre, an agency of the Canadian Forces thatco-ordinates air and sea rescues in B.C. and Yukon, said the manwas rescued at about 3:35 p.m. PT by a helicopter from 442Transport and Rescue Squadron based in Comox.

White Rock RCMPCont.Chantelle Sears said police were notified of the situation at approximately 2 p.m. PT Thursday.

"Due to the winds, the pier has broken apart," Sears said. "There's one person that is going to need rescuing off of it."

The pier is on Semiahmoo Bayin the 15000 block of Marine Drive.

Social media video from the scene showed the helicopterhovering over the pier at 3:30 p.m.

Social media videos from the scene also showed the jetty rocking violently in the waves prior to the rescue.

"The pier and the dock was just totally overtaken with waves," said White Rock resident Melanie McIntosh, who walked down to the pier after an appointment.

"The dock and the moorings where the sail boats usually are, they are just gone. All the boats are just leaned up against the pier all the way down to the railway tracks."

The City of White Rock is now pleading with people to stay away from the destroyed pier as pieces of debris continue to wash up on shore.

4 rescued in Maple Bay

The powerful windstormwhipped through southern B.C. for muchofThursday. Weather warnings were issued for many regions of the province, including on Vancouver Island.

In the waters off the island community of Maple Bay, northeast of Duncan, four people had to be rescued from a houseboat that went adrift in the treacherous weather.

TheJRCC said another boat came to the aid of the four people and took them off the boat.