The latest on flooding, mudslide recovery efforts in B.C.

The B.C. government is a long way from estimating the costs of repairs to infrastructure following this week's flooding.

However, assessments are ongoing on major highways devastated by the flooding and Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said: "It's going to be a lot."

Fleming said the Coquihalla Highway will be rebuilt with improvements in the long-term, while temporary measures are being explored.

Essential travel has been reinstated on Highways 3 and 7 to ensure commercial and emergency vehicles can move between the Lower Mainland and the Interior.

Fuel usage has also been restricted for residents in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast. Those residents can fill just 30 litres of fuel at gas stations per visit until Dec. 1, 2021, in an effort to maintain fuel supply in the province.

Emergency vehicles that use gas cards will not have their fuel service impacted.

Rail access is steadily being reestablished to connect Kamloops to Vancouver again, too.

Canadian Pacific Railway said it anticipates trains to be able to travel through the Fraser Valley again by the middle of next week. Canadian National Railway was less specific, but said repairs and assessments are ongoing and that work will continue into next week.

As the Lower Mainland is being reconnected with the rest of the province, the City of Merritt remains on evacuation order.

Merritt is reminding residents who stayed behind that although water may be accessible, it is still not safe to drink, while even flushing toilets may lengthen recovery times. It urged residents to avoid using water when the Coldwater River rose on Monday morning out of concerns that it could back up sewage into homes.

City staff in Merritt assessing properties are marking homes with green, yellow or red tags. Those with green cards are permitted to return to collect possessions and begin remediation, according to an announcement from the City.

Merritt Mayor Linda Brown will begin daily video updates for residents which started tomorrow, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m.

For residents who have evacuated to Kamloops, Emergency Management B.C. is monitoring and addressing wait times for emergency services.

In Abbotsford, City staff are working side-by-side with military to sandbag and hold back flood waters.

While hundreds of farms remain under evacuation order, many farmers have been met with quickly changing conditions as they try to access their animals.

The waters have been fluctuating and any assessments to Highway 1 will have to wait until water in the Sumas Prairie has drained.

On Nov. 17, a helicopter pilot flew supplies to a group stranded near Hope. As he did so he filmed the state of the Sumas Prairie and mudslides on Lower Mainland highways from the air, as seen in this YouTube video.

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