The Canadian Armed Forces deployed a Hercules transport aircraft, several search helicopters and hundreds of troops to the region, while putting thousands more on standby.
Their activities "will include providing assistance with evacuations, transport of emergency response personnel and equipment, and area reconnaissance," military spokesman Alex Roy said.
More than 1,000 travellers had been stranded by mudslides, rocks and debris between Sunday and Monday in the town of Hope, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Vancouver.
In the early morning, an emergency passenger train carrying about 200 people from the town arrived in Vancouver, Via Rail told AFP.
Many motorists also got through on Highway 7 connecting to Canada's third-largest city after it was temporarily reopened by emergency crews clearing rocks and debris overnight, the British Columbia transportation agency said.
A video shared by the agency on Twitter showed a stream of vehicles driving westbound along a breakdown lane illuminated by floodlights, past road crews.
A search, meanwhile, continues for more possible victims swept away in a mudslide near Lillooet, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, after a woman's body was recovered this week.
Federal police say at least four people are still missing in that mudslide -- one of several that has effectively cut off Vancouver and its sea port, which handles some 3.5 million containers each year.
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