The deputy mayor in the village of Cache Creek says if flooding on the Bonaparte River gets worse than it is right now, people may need to be evacuated to Kamloops.
“We have been talking to your emergency operations centre staff, but I don’t think we’re going to have to go there,” Wendy Coomber said on the NL Morning News. “The water levels have gone down so they have a bit of play if they have to rise again.”
That said, Coomber notes the worst case scenario is that people in 160 properties currently on evacuation alert have to leave their homes if the situation was to worsen in an instant. As it stands, there are twelve properties in the village that have been evacuated.
“Emergency Support Services has been practicing COVID-19 protocols as they register evacuees at their reception centre,” Coomber noted. “We’ve placed sandbags and piles at places around town, so people can maintain their distance where we used to just invite everybody down to the park for a free for all sandbagging before freshet started.”
“You know, we have been doing what we can.”
There is rain in the forecast for Cache Creek this week, but as of this morning, the BC River Forecast Centre has downgraded a flood warning on the Bonaparte River to a flood watch.
“I did a quick check of the different weather sites this morning and we had a lot of clouds…dark clouds overhead and a 60 per cent chance of showers,” Coomber added. “I don’t know if we are going to dodge this one.”
Similarly, flood watches and high streamflow advisories have ended for the North Thompson River and its tributaries, the Thompson River in Kamloops, and tributaries of the South Thompson River. However, high streamflow advisories are still in place for the South Thompson River and the Thompson River at Spences Bridge.
The River Forecast Centre says water on some rivers like the Bonaparte and South Thompson is expected to continue to recede throughout the week, despite the potential for rain in the forecast, which is not expected to lead to significant increases in water levels.
For the latest from the River Forecast Centre, go here.
