4 People Missing, Including 2 Children, After Extreme Rainfall in Canada

All four individuals reportedly went missing after their respective vehicles were submerged in the flood waters

Four people, including two children, have been reported missing after the Canadian province of Nova Scotia experienced extreme rainfall that caused major flooding over the weekend.

According to police, all four people went missing after their respective vehicles were submerged in the flood waters, BBC News reports.

Police said the missing children were the only two of the five total passengers unable to escape from their car, reports the BBC.

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The same goes for the other two people missing, a man and another young individual, as the two other passengers were rescued from their vehicle, reports the BBC. Officials have discouraged residents from assisting in the search for the missing individuals because of the emergency weather conditions, the outlet noted.

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Police said this is the heaviest rainfall Nova Scotia has experienced in 50 years, amid three months of rain falling in some areas within the Atlantic region in just 24 hours, according to BBC News.

There was widespread flooding throughout Lunenburg County, west of Nova Scotia's capital Halifax, reports the Associated Press. In the Hammonds Plains area, the same region where 151 homes and businesses were destroyed by wildfires on May 28, driveways were washed out. Halifax Search and Rescue needed boats to rescue people in the Bedford area, the AP reports.

BBC News also reported that thousands of homes are now without electricity, leaving over 80,000 residents without power, due to the “biblical proportions of rain,” as Halifax Mayor Mike Savage put it at a press conference.

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Several roads were also washed away, along with bridges weakened by the water damage.

"We have a scary, significant situation,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said of replacing or rebuilding seven bridges at a news conference, per BBC. 

He added that "the property damage to homes ... is pretty unimaginable,” as he estimated it to take several days for the rainwater to recede.

"People should not assume that everything is over. This is a very dynamic situation," Savage said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Houston about the flooding, according to a statement from his office. "The Prime Minister reiterated the Government of Canada’s commitment to supporting Nova Scotians in the days and weeks ahead to respond to the flooding," the statement read. "He also acknowledged the strength of Nova Scotians, who are coming together in hard times and showing up for each other."

Trudeau also told reporters in Toronto that the federal government "will be there" for Nova Scotia, per Reuters.

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