EvACuAtion orders issued in Interior Communities
Flooding in B.C.’s Interior continues to threaten communities with more evacuation orders issued this weekend in the Okanagan and Cariboo regions.
Cameron Baughen of the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen said the region is bracing itself for floods and a potentially long, difficult season.
“We are dealing with localized flooding across the regional district,” Baughen said on Sunday afternoon. “Our snowpack is at 150 per cent, and according to the River Forecast Centre, 120 per cent is a concern.”
On Sunday, residents of 148 properties in the northern Tulameen area were ordered to leave their homes due to the immediate danger posed by the rising waters of Otter Lake, north of town.
“As Otter Lake rises, (the town) is in the vise grip,” said Baughen.
Tulameen’s unincorporated
LOTTERIES
SATURDAY 6/49: 24, 31, 33, 34, 44,
46. Bonus: 10
SATURDAY BC 49: 09, 12, 13, 18, 21,
29. Bonus: 01
Extra: 01, 08, 13, 73
Lotto Max: 08, 09, 11, 17, 37, 39, 41. Bonus: 19
Extra: 18, 32, 70, 97 town centre has residential properties, cabins and secondary homes. Firefighters went door-todoor to ensure all residents were evacuated. Hydrologists were onsite to assess water movements.
Evacuated residents were told to register at an emergency socialservices reception centre set up at a community centre in Princeton. The rest of the town remains on evacuation alert.
The area has historically grappled with high water tables, Baughen noted.
“The community has gone through this before, but this will be an exceptional year because the snowpack is at a record high, and as we see very hot conditions, we see water melting very quickly and if we get rain, there’s nowhere for that rain to go,” he said.
Also on Sunday, a state of local emergency was declared in Cawston, southeast of Keremeos, where localized flooding has affected some roadways.
“Waters have been building up and affecting local properties already,” said Baughen. “We are aware this is coming. We’ve been providing sandbags for several weeks.”
The declaration of a state of local emergency gives the regional district the authority to evacuate residents, if necessary, and to access private property in order to perform assessments on creeks and waterways.
Authorities hope the state of local emergency conveys the gravity of the situation. “Residents are now informed this is a very serious event, and it could be a long-lasting event,” said Baughen.
In the central Okanagan, an evacuation order issued Saturday night for a dozen properties in the Killiney Beach area, downhill from an unstable slope, remained in place Sunday.
The majority of the properties affected were vacation homes and were vacant, said the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations team. Two people were affected by the evacuation order, and are now staying in a hotel.
Residents are asked to avoid the area because of the hazard posed by the unstable slope.
In the Cariboo, another 47 households in the Nazko Valley have also been told to leave their homes due to immediate danger from flooding. Those individuals are being told to register at the Quesnel Recreational Centre.
The River Forecast Centre has issued a flood warning for the Nazko and West Road rivers. It’s maintaining a flood watch for the central Interior, including the Bonaparte River and tributaries around Cache Creek, Merritt, Williams Lake, Quesnel and surrounding areas, according to an alert issued by the B.C. government Sunday afternoon.
Just as the weekend started, a local state of emergency was issued for Cache Creek, where the local fire chief died last year after he was swept away by flood waters.