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Photos emerge of king tide trapping drivers on Mitchell Island

One worker said the island flooded in 10 minutes, trapping dozens of people, submerging cars and causing containers to float

More photos of yesterday’s Mitchell Island flood have emerged, showing the full extent of the chaos.

The industrial swathe of Richmond – on the Fraser River between Richmond and Vancouver – was shut off during yesterday’s king tide storm surge at around noon.

Many workers were marooned on the island, some trapped in their vehicles due to them being partially submerged in the rising tide.

One of the workers, who sent photos to the Richmond News, said it all happened in about 10 minutes, with the water levels rising to about two feet at Twigg Place on the island.

In the photos, large containers can be seen floating around in the flood, with many vehicles stranded.

Mitchell Island re-opened at around 4 p.m.

Mitchell Island finally re-opened to traffic at around 4 p.m., when the Fraser River tide started to recede.

In a tweet, the City of Richmond said there were no reported injuries and that the exact cause of the “flooding is still under investigation.”

The tweet added that the city’s “pump stations on the island have operated properly/well all day.”

The city’s flood defences at various coastal areas of Richmond appeared to stand up to the king tide storm surge, including the flood wall at Britannia Heritage Shipyards in Steveston.

However, the tide did breach onto London Landing in Steveston, during its peak at around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.