After a devastating flash flood hit Cache Creek, B.C., the town’s mayor declared a local state of emergency on Sunday.
Residents of a mobile home park and other homes were placed on evacuation order and the area is under a severe thunderstorm watch, according to Environment Canada.
Mayor John Ranta said the main concern is now for the people who were forced from their homes after 30 millimeters of rain fell in one hour on Saturday, leaving devastating effects.
"There are 30 to 35 homes that are no longer occupiable, and the people that lived in those homes are either staying with friends or neighbours or the emergency services centre has put them up in motels overnight," he said.
Cache Creek resident Tony Kovacs was stuck inside his home with his daughter and granddaughter as a wave of water, mud and debris swept through the area.
"We could not come out of the house because the water was very high here and the other side very high and the mud, the mud was most dangerous," he said.
Christina Borg was also trapped inside her home with her family as they watched the water rise.
"First you see the water coming at you, then it keeps rising and rising and then it's two feet high, then three feet high and then you hear the rumbling of all the cars hitting the house and stuff and you see the water rising up past the windows…and so we were trapped inside,” she said. “We knew we were safe, but ultimately [we thought] ‘What could happen? What if the house shifted? What if a house hit us?’”
Kim Van Tine had just installed new hardwood floors at a home that he was in the process of purchasing.
"I looked at the creek and I saw a fridge go by,” he said. “There was a wall of water pushed up against the house, it was pushing the trailer. The vehicles from the neighbours properties were up against the house."
Charlene Millward’s home was forced off its foundation with mud up to the top of the stairs, and is now beyond repair.
"I'm in shock… I don't know what to say, I'm very happy with the support,” Millward said. “I'm in a small town, so everybody is very supporting."
Cache Creek resident Susan Maximiuk said strangers were lending a hand to help take Millward’s possessions to dry land.
"Everybody's come together, the town, people from Savona, people from all over are coming here to help Charlene out and everybody else in the town,” she said. “It's total destruction."
Early indications from insurance companies are that the damage falls under the Act of God category, so the community is hoping for relief through the province’s emergency programs.
With a report from CTV Kelowna’s Kent Molgat
