'We're very, very concerned': Delta mayor urging public to prepare for 5-metre king tides

With gusting winds and high tides in the forecast for parts of Metro Vancouver, Delta Mayor George Harvie is sounding the alarm.

“We’re very, very concerned,” said Harvie. “This is the first time we’ve had these record king tides and a continuous storm surge warning that we’ve had through Environment Canada and the federal government.”

Harvie says if the southeasterly winds reach the expected speed of 90 km/hour at peak tide height, the results could be devastating.

“They’ll go over the top of the beach walls here, the beach walls aren’t that high,” said Harvie. “Unfortunately if it comes to where the descriptions are being provided to us, if it comes to that, we’re going to have serious flooding and serious home damage.”

The city has posted signage and coordinated a campaign with police and firefighters to drop letters off at the more than 100 properties in the Boundary Bay and Beach Grove communities.

Information on the flood risk can also be found on the Delta website.

Multiple sandbagging stations have been set-up in the beach-side neighbourhoods.

“If any water does blow in – there’s some lower level spots in the house – we’re just making sure that they’re sandbagged in,” said Delta resident Dan Ratcliff.

Some residents who live along the beach wall told CTV News they don’t plan on taking any precautions.

“We’ve had water in front here and it’s been fine,” said Andrea West, a longtime Boundary Bay resident. “So we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Beach Grove resident Louise Jackson says in the past, water has streamed along the sides of her home and she’s confident her waterfront property is safe.

“We’re not going to do any sandbags I don’t think,” said Jackson. “We’ve survived it before so we’re not going to do anything.”

Harvie says city crews and pumps will be available if flooding occurs, but he hopes people take steps to prepare their homes.

“The warnings are here, our staff are here, but we need the residents here also to ensure they do everything possible to protect their property,” said Harvie.

Monday’s king tide reached nearly five metres but low winds kept waves relatively calm. Tuesday’s king tide is expected to hit its peak around 9 a.m. with high tides forecasted throughout the week.

Environment Canada is also calling for around 20 mm of rain overnight and into Tuesday.