Record rain leave mess behind
Okanagan-Similkameen regional district forced to activate emergency operations centre after rain
Cleanup work continued Sunday after a record-setting deluge walloped the region late last week, chasing two people from their home in Naramata and closing a golf course in Oliver indefinitely.
Torrential rain Thursday night flooded a home above Gammon Road in Naramata, forcing out the residents and spurring the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen to activate its emergency operations centre.
They will remain out of their home pending an engineering assessment early this week, according to RDOS fire services supervisor Brandy Maslowski.
She said the EOC was closed at 7 p.m. Friday once the danger had passed.
“We haven’t had anything significant (since then) that we had to bring in staff for,” Maslowski added.
“We’re just kind of in maintenance mode right now.”
That will include patching up a washout on the KVR Trail near Workman Place in Naramata, which has left the route closed in that area until further notice.
Fairview Mountain Golf Club near Oliver is also closed until further notice as a result of a mudslide that covered several holes.
Course managers couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday, but Maslowski said the RDOS will send staff to the scene this week to see how it can help with repairs.
Meanwhile, the rain also affected two local water systems.
Upwards of 250 homes in the Heritage Hills area south of Penticton were impacted when a roadway was washed out, taking a water line with it. Service was restored Friday evening.
As of Sunday, however, residents on the Sage Mesa water system were still under a water quality advisory due to turbidity.
The widespread damage was due to a weather system Thursday that dumped 29.6 millimetres of rain at the Penticton airport – nearly double the record for that day of 16.3 mm set it 1972, according to Environment Canada data.
And the downpour came just a week after the RDOS issued a “bulletin advising people to be ready for spring flooding.
“Seeing the snowpack and the situation, we knew that any kind of significant rain event would cause issues,” said Maslowski, who hopes the event will spur the public to get ready for the next emergency.
“I’d say it’s a good reminder that people need to get prepared. If we’re going to send a message to the public right now, it’s get your 72-hour kit prepared if you’re in an area where flooding is expected,” she urged.
“And if you had to sandbag last year, be ready to do it again this year.”
Sand and bags are available now at fire halls in Willowbrook, Oliver and Naramata, and at Keogan Park in Okanagan Falls.