Flooding defences withstand windstorm

Wind-whipped waves didn’t damage flood-control structures along Okanagan Lake, emergency officials say.

An inspection of all the flood defences showed they were intact despite winds that gusted to 50 km/h Saturday night.

“Protective measures along the foreshore will be in place for many more weeks due to high water levels and the threat of wave damage caused by windy conditions,” the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre said in a release.

“Okanagan Lake is still 71 cm above its normal lake level for this time of year,” the release stated.

With the snowmelt finished and creek flows returning to normal, sandbags along Mill Creek up to Pandosy Street will be removed by today. However, individual property owners are urged to keep their sandbags in place for now.

“A plan is being formulated to co-ordinate the removal of nearly two million sandbags throughout the Central Okanagan, the equivalent of 23 kilometres of sandbags,” the EOC says.

Okanagan Lake was measured Sunday at an elevation of 343.191 metres above sea level, down one centimetre from Saturday and down nearly six centimetres from last Sunday.

“At this rate of decrease, it will be weeks before lakes are low enough to remove flood protection,” the EOC says.