'Need to get through these next couple weeks': Flood worries increase as B.C. hits peak freshet

PITT MEADOWS, B.C. -

Sandbagging efforts are underway in some parts of the Fraser Valley as rivers and flood worries rise.

At Katzie First Nation in Pitt Meadows, sandbagging began Thursday.

“It is anxiety-inducing living beside a river that’s rising like this,” said Ian Cowan, director of Katzie’s Emergency Operations Centre.

“But … people are prepared,” he said. “They take it in stride, for the most part.”

He said there are about 90 homes not protected by dikes that could be at risk. Community members along with B.C. wildfire crews are expected to put about 8,000 sandbags in place.

“We just want to be prepared and get a little bit of a jump on things because there’s so much work to do here,” he explained.

There is currently a high streamflow advisory for the Lower Fraser River. The Mission gauge is sitting at around 5.5 metres, but the B.C. River Forecast Centre says levels could climb to 5.8 metres later next week.

Much of the province is on high alert for flooding, with hundreds of people being told to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.

“There are approximately 580 people currently on evacuation alert across the province due to flooding,” said Ian Cunnings of Emergency Management BC.

“As of today, however, there are no large evacuation orders in place. That said, there is continued risk still ahead,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Okangan Lake has risen to 3 centimetres above full pool and is expected to continue to rise through the next week.

“We’re expecting a couple more weather events in the days ahead that will bring rain and wind,” said Sandra Follack, Central Okanagan Regional Emergency Program co-ordinator, in a news release.

“Residents who live in areas that are prone to flooding are asked to take precautions to protect their properties."

Cold spring temperatures have delayed the snowmelt on B.C. mountains, leaving double the normal snowpack for this time of year.

“Particularly in those mountainous areas, the snowpack remains significant enough to provide ongoing risk to flooding," said Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre.

"Particularly in the higher elevation terrain, so places including the Upper Fraser, Cariboo Mountains draining into the North Thompson, South Thompson, areas of the Kootenays and Columbia as well as in the northwest."

He said B.C. is in the peak of spring freshet now.

“This is the period when we’re going to have the increased vulnerability,” he said. “We really do need to get through these next couple weeks.”