More Merritt, B.C., residents return home as flood evacuation orders once again lifted
More residents of Merritt, B.C. were given the green light to return home after the city once again lifted flood evacuation orders.
Residents of properties in Phases 3 and 4 of the city’s return home plan had previously been under an evacuation order and only allowed day access.
On Friday, however, that order was lifted, leading to flocks of residents returning home.
"(There’s) a lot going on today, lots of people are back cleaning up, there's stuff piled on the road, were hauling mud away," said Merritt resident Howard McKinnon in an interview with CTV News Vancouver on Saturday.
“Everywhere you look, there’s people trying to get their lives back together.”
McKinnon has spent the last few weeks taking his excavator around town, offering a hand to anyone who needs it. He says the recent snowfall and freezing temperatures have added to the chaos.
“We need boots on the ground,” he said.
While the vast majority of residents are now free to return home on a full-time basis, the city has deemed 366 properties to be “unliveable.”
“We’ve instituted a new evacuation area that is specifically houses that are either damaged or have issues with their utilities, like gas, hydro or water,” Merritt information officer Alan Stebbing told CTV News.
Stebbing says as more people return home, the number of unliveable houses could rise.
"We expect this number to start to vary,” Stebbing said. “As people are getting back into their homes, we are finding some that are unliveable that weren't included, so we're including them to make sure those people get services.”
After previously being under a “do not consume” order, the city’s water supply is now back to a boil water advisory, according to Interior Health.
"(There were) a couple of major milestones yesterday to bringing the residents back to Merritt and working back towards a sense of normalcy,” Stebbing said.
However, McKinnon says there’s been a lack of help from all levels of government, and residents have taken on a “do it ourselves” mentality.
"Really, at this point, nobody's counting on any help from anybody officially, so we're just going to keep carrying on doing what we're doing.”
A spokesperson for the B.C. government told CTV News on Saturday that Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth will travel to Merritt early next week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.