SICAMOUS, B.C. -- About half of the exhausted residents of Sicamous, B.C., chased out of their homes by a raging torrent of water over the weekend were allowed to go home Tuesday.
The local municipal district lifted an evacuation order in one of the two neighbourhoods affected, Swansea Point, where about 150 were forced out during a flash flood.
But Chris Duffy, executive director of emergency co-ordination for Emergency Management BC, said residents of the Two Mile subdivision were still under orders not to return to their homes. That evacuation order was expected to remain in place until officials determine it's safe for residents to return.
About 350 people in the summer tourism town of 3,100, more than 340 km northeast of Vancouver, were ordered evacuated and its Two Mile subdivision was declared under a state of emergency after the weekend's natural disaster.
Fast-flowing waters, sprung from torrential showers and rapid snowmelt, cleaved a path of physical and economic devastation through the region on Saturday.
Sicamous topped the list of a series of communities in the B.C. Interior, the Kootenay region and the Fraser Valley where flooding is either keeping residents away from their homes or forcing them to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Another 2,000 people in 675 homes remained prepared to evacuate, said Duffy.
Up until this past Saturday, Andre Robert was eagerly awaiting marrying his fiancee in December in Hawaii.
Then the rain started, and within two hours and a 15-centimetre jump of water, the couple's plans washed away along with large swaths of their town.
The flooding halted the 29-year-old's boat rental business just as the seasonal boom was about to go full throttle.
"We can go do the cheapy justice of the peace kind of thing, but we were hoping to go to Hawaii and elope on the beach there somewhere," said Robert as he powered a boat from A.J.'s Marine Rentals through just one of multiple swollen lakes and rivers in British Columbia.
"I told her if I don't have any money it's pretty hard to get married."
Sicamous residents' livelihoods are usually propelled by 100 days between June and September.
That weather has stymied business for the marinas, boat and houseboat rental outlets. Local hotels, floating grocery stores and spin-off shops are suffering, too, and all say they haven't experienced such conditions in years, if ever.
"This is going to be outrageous, it's a little scary," Robert said. " Now, we're going to be cut down to about 30 days in August. There's a ripple effect for everybody in the community."
The storm triggered a massive debris flow that began when a local river became plugged with logs from previous rains. Massive pressure released the jam, sending rafts of water diverting from within the banks and thrusting the material down a road, through a parking lot and cascading around waterfront property.
A cottage was pushed off its foundation, several dozen vehicles were submerged in a mudslide, and an asphalt road gave way to leave gaping holes that swallowed vehicles.
But Duffy said he has not seen any field reports on the cause of the flash flood, but geotechnical and hydrological specialists flew over the creek Monday.
He said he could see some indication on Tuesday of the cause, a key part in allowing officials to lift the evacuation orders.
In other parts of Sicamous, locals canoed through parking lots, removing possessions from otherwise inaccessible homes.
A water ban was put into effect after a 20,000-litre gas tank toppled into Mara Lake, the major water body where many high-end cottages are located. Beaches normally filled with tourists were under water.
When the downpour started, residents started sandbagging. By 2 a.m. they determined it was futile.
"Then the flow got too high for the sand bags and we let nature take its course. It was a very difficult decision," said Bob, who asked for anonymity to protect his home from looters, as he surveyed the damage from his dock.
The retired vacationer from Calgary, whose family has had the home for 40 years, said the coming months will be rough. But he said he's certain residents with pull together.
"It's a town that cares and Sicamous will get through it. However, there's going to be a lot of heartache in the meantime," he said.
"This is a vacation paradise -- and it will be again."
Insurance won't cover all the damage and losses caused by the flooding, but the provincial government has a program to help, said Duffy.
He said the province is expected to receive an application from local officials under the Disaster Financial Assistance Program.
"It's important to note, though, that this is not a complete or in any way comprehensive insurance program," he said. "It is simply an assistance program to help restore essential items."
The Disaster Financial Assistance Program team will attend the next public meeting to help walk people through the process, he said.
Elsewhere in the province, 35 homes in the Creston area of southeastern B.C. were placed on evacuation alert Tuesday as the community declared a local state of emergency because of localized flooding.
Doug Lundquist, an Environment Canada meteorologist, said before the current storm leaves the Kootenays, between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain could fall, and even more could fall on higher terrain.
Dave Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said flooding could become an issue in the extreme southeast corner of the province because of those heavy rains.
Officials have said Kootenay Lake is expected to peak by the end of the week and forecasters say the lake could reach a height not seen in half a century.
Saskatchewan is lending resources and expertise to B.C. to help deal with the wide-spread flooding.
Three emergency services officers and an eight-person rapid response team has arrived in Chilliwack with equipment, including eight kilometres of flood barriers, five automated sandbagging machines and pumps.
