LANGLEY, B.C. -- As families gather at Derby Reach Regional Park in Langley, water levels along the Fraser River threaten to rise.
“This is probably the highest I’ve seen it,” said Rudy Ekkhert, who lives in Fort Langley. “It’s a little bit surprising. But hearing all the rain happening up north and all that, it’s expected that it would come downriver eventually.”
Typically, water levels in this area will rise in June, but with the heavy rain across the province, Langley township officials are bracing for water levels to peak once again.
“It’s peaked already twice and it’s predicted to peak again on Monday,” said Roeland Zwaag, director of public works for the Township of Langley. “The estimate is 6.0 at the Mission gauge which is very similar to the levels we had in 2018.”
Officials say current water levels are causing some flooding on private property, but no homes that they are aware of are impacted.
On Friday, as a precautionary measure, township staff did send evacuation alerts to "all properties in the unprotected areas of the Township of Langley,” said Zwaag.
It is a precautionary measure, he said, to remind everyone “to be ready, be vigilant so that if they are asked to leave using an evacuation order they are ready to leave.”
The Mission water gauge currently sits at just about 5 metres, but Zwaag told CTV News the prediction is it will reach 5.9 or 6.0 by Monday. He went on to say the most severe flooding in the last decade was in 2012, when the flood levels were "about 0.4 metres higher."
Officials are asking anyone who sees standing and pooling water on trails to contact them at 604-532-7300 or after hours at 604-534-3496.