Flooding remains a concern
Evacuation alerts still in place for thousands of homes along river
Despite a spot of good news in the form of a reduced flow forecast for the Similkameen River, emergency officials aren’t breathing a sigh of relief just yet.
“Even downgraded, it’s still a concern to us,” Zoe Kirk said Wednesday in her capacity as an information officer in the emergency operations centre run by the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen.
The B.C. River Forecast Centre earlier in the day cut the forecast high flow in the Similkameen near Hedley from 800 to 675 cubic metres per second by Saturday.
That would still be about equal, though, to the flow that caused flooding last weekend along the river and on Osoyoos Lake.
As of Wednesday morning, the flow was 557 cubic metres per second.
Evacuation alerts remain in place for thousands of homes along the river from Princeton to Keremeos, and around Osoyoos Lake, which is flooding due to the Similkameen.
Kirk said the EOC has now set up a series of video cameras along the river to monitor hot spots in real time.
“When you’re 100 kilometres away, it’s helpful to be able to look at the cameras and see how things are going,” she added.
Also helpful are plans drawn up by the RCMP to rescue people and detour drivers should Highway 3 be closed due to flooding.
Of additional concern, however, is a special weather statement from Environment Canada warning of possible thunderstorms today and Friday.
“It’s like playing craps — where will that rain cell open up?” Kirk said.
Meanwhile, work began Wednesday to armour city infrastructure along the Okanagan Lake waterfront in downtown Penticton. Beaches are closed as a result.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the lake surface was at 342.38 metres, just 10 centimetres below full pool.
In Okanagan Falls, where 54 properties were evacuated for one day last week, a GoFundMe page has been started to help the neighbourhood recover.
To donate, visit gofundme.com/okanaganfalls-flood-relief.
And in Victoria, Premier John Horgan announced the B.C. government will match all donations to the Red Cross that are earmarked for provincial flood relief efforts, to a maximum of $20 million. The offer is open through July 31.