Evacuation Alerts Expanded as Floodwaters Rise on Some BC Rivers, Creeks

The village of Cache Creek, shown in a handout photo, is maintaining a state of local emergency due to flooding. (The Canadian Press/HO-Sheila Olson)

Hundreds of residents in British Columbia’s southern and central Interior have been warned they may have to leave quickly if floodwaters move in.

Flood warnings, watches and advisories cover about half of the province, although the areas most under threat are the Boundary and Thompson regions.

Heavy rain on Friday and today following a week of record-setting temperatures that melted the snowpack has swollen rivers and creeks and set off mudslides.

Evacuation alerts have been issued for almost 900 properties in the village of Salmo and its neighbouring communities of Erie and Ymir, as well as properties in Grand Forks and in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.

The Okanagan Indian Band has issued an evacuation order for a small number of homes along Whiteman’s Creek, where fast-moving water is undercutting the bank.

The province says it has deployed more than 200,000 sandbags to communities including Grand Forks and Cache Creek, which has been hit particularly hard, with water flowing through homes and businesses.

The Ministry of Transportation says it’s staging equipment and materials at key locations and keeping an eye on infrastructure that may need to be reinforced.