On Friday, Jennifer Houghton made the treacherous journey through hazardous floodwaters to reach the front door of her home in Grand Forks, B.C.

Officials have allowed flood evacuees back for hours at a time to survey damage and collect valuables before they have to leave again. The waters that are likely contaminated with sewage and chemicals could be dangerous to their health, and authorities want people out for their own safety.

Houghton wore waterproof overalls to trudge down her street through murky water that came up to her thigh. She climbed over the rows of sandbags she'd packed around her white wood slatted home and leaned over to open the front door to reveal the flooded interior.

Inside, everything was all but destroyed by the historic flooding that's rocked the city of 4,000 this spring.

"I don't even know what words to use to describe this right now," she said. "It's shocking. It's heartbreaking. It's painful."

The green-brown water, only about calf height inside the house, carried upturned garbage bins, the drawers from inside her fridge and broken pieces of Christmas decorations that belonged to her mother.

She had stacked important things like small appliances, her camera and important paperwork high up, hoping they'd avoid getting soaked. Her camera made it, but the paperwork didn't. The water even came so high that it sullied the hems of her clothes still hanging in the closet.

"Now it's starting to smell like sewage," she said.

Her plan, for now, is to clean up once the waters recede and apply for disaster financial assistance.

"I've got a team of good friends coming to help," she said. "And it makes all the difference in the world."

Thousands forced to leave their homes

Houghton is one of thousands of evacuees in B.C.'s Interior who have been forced out of their homes for more than a week as a second surge is expected at any time.

Evacuation orders are enforced by police, who patrol neighbourhoods and use loudspeakers to remind residents of how much time they have left before they need to leave again.

One hundred soldiers from the Canadian Forces have also been deployed to the town to help with flood relief. Two hundred more are stationed in other communities along the river all the way up to Vernon.

Military members arrived in Grand Forks Friday, and they'll help the town with manual labour including sandbagging and securing dikes to protect what can still be saved.

"We're here to get them across the finish line, and make sure that surge doesn't impact the city more than it already has," Capt. Chris Hanson told CTV News.

Evacuees frustrated by barricades

Some evacuees, however, are frustrated by the police barricades around their neighbourhoods they say are preventing them from retrieving their essentials and being with loved ones.

Randy Harp and partner Sherri Singer were separated by barricades for days, with Harp trapped on one side and Singer on the other after the blockade went up while he was at work.

"It was stressful as hell," Harp said. "I couldn't focus on my job … My heart was back home with my dad and my lady."

Harp grew up in the area, and eventually found an unpatrolled route to come back. But he said he doesn't want to sneak around, and wants legal access to his home.

"Everybody down here wants to get the water out of their basement," he said. "They want to pull the old drywall out, pull the insulation out and get their basements dry."

Houghton, who did get out and is staying at a friend's house, said she understands how hard it is to leave when faced with an evacuation order.

"I can understand how the people in Ruckle wanted to stay. Even though they were evacuated it's hard to walk out and close the door for the last time and look at what you're leaving behind," she said.

For Houghton, nearly everything she left behind was destroyed. This is the second time she's been impacted by flooding, and going forward she said she wants to build a tiny house on wheels that she can move with the changing forecast.

"I don't see this not happening again," she said. "I'm not going to rebuild the same way. I need to adapt somehow."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Sarah MacDonald