Evacuation orders expanded, highways closed due to B.C. Interior flooding

Evacuation alerts and orders were issued in multiple communities in B.C.'s Southern Interior as flooding intensified Wednesday, closing Highways 1 and 97 in the Village of Cache Creek.

A total of five properties in Cache Creek are now on evacuation order, up from a single property earlier in the week.

Farther east, the Okanagan Indian Band has issued an evacuation alert for properties on Grouse Avenue, Deer Street, Elk Street, Lakeshore Drive and Falcon Avenue. An evacuation order was issued for some properties on Falcon Avenue on Tuesday.

Also on evacuation order are 10 addresses in the rural Grand Forks area south of 68th Avenue, according to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. An evacuation alert is in place for eight other properties in the area.

The evacuated Cache Creek properties are all located along the creek itself, according to the village, which does not appear to have posted a detailed breakdown of which addresses are subject to the evacuation order.

Village resident Derek Nelson told CTV News the flooding has caused "a lot of havoc."

"The fire hall doors are open and the water's just flowing through, directly through the full fire hall itself," Nelson said. "Two motels are completely (in the) same situation, with flooding all through the floors. The main street, (there's) debris coming down."

He says a home has been swept away.

“The mobile home is crushed in the debris somewhere and they’re trying to figure out if that’s going to end up coming down and causing a lot more problems,” Nelson said.

A couple of motels have also been hit by the floods.

Paramjit Parihar has owned the Cache Creek Inn for almost 22 years.

He says water is now running through the rooms on the bottom floor.

“It’s still running and there’s no hope to stop it,” he told CTV News in a phone interview.

“To be honest, I was shocked when I saw one (motel) this morning and watched the water just pour over the bank,” said Wendy Coomber, who volunteers as an information officer at the Cache Creek Emergency Operations Centre.

“We have sandbags and sand out at different locations around town so they can come pick up sand bags and take them back to their own properties,” she said.

“This is the worst it's ever been. We’ve never had it take so much of our property,” said Nelson, whose property is on evacuation alert.

He said in a community that has seen floods before, governments should have taken more preventative action.

“It’s super frustrating because we know this (flooding) has happened over the past five years and it seems that nothing changes,” he said. “I know that it all comes at a cost, but what is going to be the cost now for the businesses affected by that?”

Charlene Nelson, Derek's wife, agrees.

“They (government officials) knew the heat wave was coming. They knew the flood was coming,” she said.

She worries for her neighbours whose homes are closer to the river, but said she’s grateful to be part of a community that is doing the best it can.

“We’re so lucky to have such a community that works so hard together and comes together in times of disaster,” she said.

In an update on its website from late Tuesday evening, the village says it's expecting the situation to get worse before it gets better.

"We anticipate water levels in the (Bonaparte) River to rise over the coming days," the update reads.

"All residents are advised to stay 10 feet back from the banks of both the creek and the river. Keep children and pets from straying too close."

Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said snow at higher elevations is melting quickly. And with warm weather and rain in the forecast this week, waters could climb even higher.

“You have the flows already very high, the snowpack melting and when rain falls on a melting snowpack, it washes the snow away that much quicker. So there is an added risk that going into the weekend, the flows could get substantially higher than they are right now," Boyd said. “The hope is that this forecast precipitation dissipates and doesn’t happen but the scary risk is that it could always ramp up and be even more."

According to DriveBC, Highway 97 is closed in the village due to flooding at Stephenson Road in downtown Cache Creek. Highway 1 is also closed in the area, though DriveBC says detours are available.  

Video posted on Facebook shows water pouring across the road next to the Dairy Queen on that part of the highway.

“Kind of feels like it’s another nail in the coffin,” said Coomber, who explained that the community has already endured enough hardship in recent years.

“I know the businesses were hit really hard in 2017, then COVID came along, a lot of them just decided to fold, and now this,” she said.

Coomber said the highway closures will also have a negative impact on businesses.

Flood warnings and watches are in place across the Southern Interior as warm weather causes the remaining snow at higher elevations in the area to melt rapidly. 

"With ongoing above normal temperatures next week, ongoing rises in rivers are expected across the region, with increasing potential for flood hazard in other rivers over the coming days," the B.C. River Forecast Centre said in a statement Tuesday.

"The potential for heavier precipitation on Friday and Saturday could lead to a period of significant flood hazard through the region late this week."

KOOTENAY LANDSLIDE

The Regional District of Central Kootenay is among the areas subject to a flood watch, and is warning residents to prepare now for potential flooding later in the week. 

The regional district advises residents to sign up for emergency notifications and assemble emergency kits and grab and go bags.

There are not currently and evacuation orders or alerts in the region prompted by flooding, but three properties were ordered to evacuate because of a landslide Tuesday night.

The slide occurred on Little Slocan South Road in the community of Vallican, according to a statement from the regional district. 

Five additional properties have been placed on evacuation alert, and the road has been closed in both directions.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay shared this photo of the landslide on Little Slocan South Road. (RDCK)