'Need to get through these next couple weeks': Flood worries increase as B.C. hits peak freshet
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.”
Correction
This story has been updated to correct the number of homes on Katzie First Nation land that could be at risk. It is 90, not 150.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.