‘We’re just praying’: Communities brace for more flooding in B.C Interior

Communities in B.C.’s central and southern Interior are bracing for more flooding. In Parker Cove, near Vernon, residents and volunteers have been filling sandbags for days.

“We’ve been going for six days and we’re still fighting this thing and the water’s still raging,” said resident Robert Burns.

They’re trying to stop overflowing Whiteman’s Creek from causing further destruction.

Homes, roads, properties and vehicles have already been damaged by fast-moving floodwaters.

More than 140 homes have been evacuated and that number could climb.

“No, I don’t really safe because I know what the creek can do,” said one resident named John.

“If anything breaches, we’re still…in trouble,” said Burns.

The swollen creek is also a threat to infrastructure nearby.

“Crews…they’re trying basically to take the logs and debris out of the creek before it hits the bridge because you don’t want these log jams breaking and having the full force of those logs hitting that bridge because they are capable of taking it out,” said Byron Louis, Chief of the Okanagan Indian Band.

“If we lose that bridge…transportation and movement south on Westside Road will no longer be passable,” he said.Homes in Parker's Cove, B.C. have been evacuated due to danger form flooding.

Whiteman's Creek has overflowed, and sandbagging efforts have been non-stop for six days in Parker's Cove, B.C.

In Grand Forks, sandbagging is underway as residents fear flooding in unprotected areas.

“We’re watching a certain area, a section of our community that is on the east side of the river here that we just cannot protect,” said Grand Forks Mayor Everett Baker.

The British Columbia border community of Grand Forks is scrambling to get ahead of a deluge of water from melting snow and heavy rainfall after learning a terrible lesson five years ago about flooding. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-City of Grand Forks)

Five years ago, floods ravaged Grand Forks, but the mayor said a lot of mitigation work has been done since then.

“2018 was an absolute tragedy. I lived it myself. I was here. My daughter lost her home in the flood. So it’s an extremely stressful time for residents that have been through 2018,” he said.

Rising water in Grand Forks is seen in this photo from May 5, 2023, (Credit: Robert Linden photography)

In Cache Creek, some roads through town still look like rivers. One home was lost in the community and businesses and homes have flooded.

With rivers already high in many parts of the Interior and Central Kootenays, the worry is now the potential for severe rain.

“It’s not just a little bit of rain, we’re really seeing potential for severe, heavy rain for this region,” said Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre, explaining the rivers have little room to accommodate more water.

“So the concerns that come along with that is river flooding, areas adjacent to rivers flooding, road washouts, erosion, landslides,” he said.

Cache Creek flooding: Photos, videos show impact on B.C. Village

In the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, about twenty properties are under evacuation order and more than 600 are on evacuation alert.

Back in Parker Cove, volunteers have come from all over the province to help exhausted residents.

“They come from everywhere, all over B.C. They come here and help. It’s incredible,” said John.

“Thank you. Thank you,” he said.

Burns said one of the volunteers he worked with is 82 years old.

“We’re hoping to save our homes,” he said.

"That’s probably most important to everyone in the community. And we’re just praying,” he said.