Get set to get out
Similkameen residents unable to leave homes quickly urged to evacuate before more flooding hits
Residents of Hedley, Keremeos and rural areas along the Similkameen River who have mobility or medical concerns were told Monday they should consider self-evacuating ahead of flooding expected later this week.
“We know we’re going to have flooding with Osoyoos Lake and Similkameen River. That will happen. We just don’t know the extent of it,” said Karla Kozakevich, the chairwoman of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
Late Sunday, upwards of 2,000 properties, covering large parts of Princeton and Keremeos, were placed under evacuation alerts. Kozakevich expects those to become orders soon.
“We will be ordering more people out, and most likely more people out than we’ve had so far to date,” she said.
“There’s no doubt about that. We just don’t know the numbers right now that will move to an order,” she said.
People with livestock and those dependent upon Highway 3, which is expected to close due to flooding, are also being told to consider selfevacuating. Those who do leave are advised to report to an emergency reception centre at the Penticton Community Centre.
Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer said there had already been a number of flooding situations in the village along the Similkameen River, Highway 3 and the Riverside Trailer Park, but he’s confident dikes built after flooding in the 1970s will be able to take on the expected surge of snowmelt in the area.
“We have been very active in maintaining that dike, but there certainly are some spots upstream that we are more concerned (about) that we’re closely monitoring,” Bauer said.
Rivers and lakes have receded in the past few days, with many residents allowed to return to their homes, but it may be the eye of the storm.
Dave Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, was unable Monday to predict just how high the level of the Similkameen may rise, but he is projecting the flow to increase to 800 cubic metres per second, up from a high of 600 recorded last week.
Campbell said the week ahead will be crucial in the flood fight, as record-high temperatures from an “extremely intense weather system” begin melting high-elevation snow, sending another pulse of meltwater through river systems.
Environment Canada is also projecting a chance of rain Thursday and Friday that could further complicate the situation.
Meanwhile, 70 homes and one hotel on Osoyoos Lake remained under evacuation orders Monday due to inflow from the Similkameen River.
As of Monday afternoon, the lake was hovering around 916.1 feet — data comes from the U.S Geological Survey and is in imperial units — not far off the record high of 917.1 feet seen in 1971.
Over the weekend, the RDOS warned the lake level could rise by several feet this week.
Anyone looking to offer sandbagging help, volunteering, services or accommodation can reach out to the RDOS emergency operations centre at 250-490-4225, where staff will make arrangements for pets and livestock as well.
Across the province, almost 2,000 homes were the subject of evacuation orders on Monday, and more than 2,600 homes were under evacuation alerts, according to Chris Duffy of Emergency Management BC.
Nearly 1,500 homes under evacuation order were in the Kootenay Boundary regional district.
Duffy said rainfall and hot weather in the Kootenays and other areas that have not yet experienced flood levels similar to the rest of the Interior could be particularly challenging this weekend, including Prince George, Quesnel, and the Bulkley lakes district.
Campbell said parts of the Fraser Valley could reach historic flow levels as the Fraser River reaches almost 12,000 cubic metres per second in Hope by the weekend, and could grow to levels unseen since 1948.