B.C. turns corner on flooding, enters fire season

VICTORIA Emergency officials say British Columbia’s flood season is wrapping up, but they are already shifting focus to wildfires without much reprieve.

Chris Duffy, executive director of Emergency Management B.C., says the gap between flood and fire seasons that typically allows crews a rest has shrunk in recent years.

Historically, he says a period of grass regrowth between the seasons has delayed the fire season, but over the last 10 years or so that breathing room has been disappearing.

Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre says between 40 and 100 per cent of the snowpack across the province has melted since the beginning of the season, with some remaining in areas of high elevation.

He says there is a lingering risk of some flooding in areas like the Kootenay and Columbia regions, but despite hot weather over the weekend, flows have generally been declining across the province.

Duffy says about 150 properties across the province remain under evacuation orders and 2,600 alerts were in place due to a continued risk of flooding — primarily in the southeastern corner of the province near Nelson and the central Okanagan.

Campbell said Monday flooding occurred early this season, so that could also translate into droughts this summer, similar to those seen in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

“Even for areas where we have going into the season very high snowpack, we can rapidly shift from above normal stream flow to below normal. So that is definitely a concern as we go through the snow sooner than normal,” Campbell said.

He said summer temperatures will play a critical role in determining whether there is a drought, but it’s too soon to predict.