Residents in coastal communities in Metro Vancouver are bracing for a rare but powerful tidal surge set to hit shores Wednesday morning.
The so-called “king tides” can sometimes exceed five metres, or 16.4 feet, especially when there’s a storm surge.
A similar tide last year forced the mayor of Delta to declare a municipal state of emergency when part of the seawall was breached in Boundary Bay.
A 70-foot section of the protective wall crumbled away in the massive waves and crews scrambled to build a temporary berm.
This time around local homeowners are protecting their properties with sandbags and the City of Delta has set up sandbagging stations along the waterfront in case of flooding.
Large concrete blocks have also been installed in some areas in case of a storm surge.
Mayor Lois Jackson says what happens this year depends on Mother Nature, particularly the wind.
“Southeast is particularly bad because it blows right off that bay, and then the velocity in the storm surge,” Jackson told CTV Vancouver.
“At this point the wind is not too bad. We're just watching very closely right now.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim
