Flood warning stands for Kelowna
K E LOW N A Mayor Colin Basran is making no apologies for sounding the alarm before a forecast thunderstorm that failed to materialize, saying run-off and rain have caused Okanagan Lake to rise and the threat of flooding remains.
On Wednesday, Basran posted a video to his Facebook page warning Kelowna residents of flooding “unlike anything we have ever seen in our community” due to the expected storm and snowmelt runoff caused by warm weather.
In an interview on Friday, Basran said those residents may wonder why he gave such a warning — potentially setting off panic — given that such chaos failed to arrive.
“I have no regrets about making sure that our residents were well prepared because I’d much rather they be over-prepared than underprepared had everything gone the way it was predicted to,” he said.
Basran said it was crucial to be proactive rather than reactive. He said he was pleased with how the community came together to help one another.
Flood advisories from B. C.’s River Forecast Centre remained in place Friday for the Interior and evacuation orders for most affected residences were continued by the Central Okanagan Emergency Operation.
“The Central Okanagan is not out of the woods yet and the message to ‘stay prepared’ remains as important as ever,” the emergency centre said in a news release Friday afternoon.
Dozens of roads had been closed around the region and city crews and contractors remained busy on Friday bolstering infrastructure and constructing dikes and dams at Mission, Bellevue and Scotty creeks.
Basran said flooding around Mill Creek in particular had caused concern over the week with warming temperatures and run-off forming “a recipe for potential disaster.”
It was a huge relief to the community when the storm never came, he said, but “there’s still reasons to be cautious and for everyone to still be doing what they can to protect their properties and be prepared to leave on a moment’s notice.”
Basra said the more imminent threat has become Okanagan Lake, which had risen seven centimetres above its normal high water level by Friday and was continuing to rise, according to the emergency centre. He fears it may affect residents of downtown Kelowna.
“There’s really just no room for any more water in our community, whether it be though run-off or precipitation,” Basran said.
Basran said his message for Kelowna residents was to “be at the ready” to leave their homes in case the weather takes an unexpected turn and to do everything possible to protect their loved ones, neighbours and property.
Among those heeding Basran’s advice was Eric Leung, who was busy Friday with his parents and four-year-old son piling sandbags
There’s really just no room for any more water in our community, whether it be though run-off or precipitation.
to protect their home from the rushing water of Mission Creek, just one metre from the edge of their property on Radant Road.
Leung, a licensed immigration consultant who moved to Kelowna from Richmond last August, said it was his third day of sandbagging in anticipation of what officials had earlier in the week described as a “one-in-200-year flood.”
He’d installed “countless” sandbags along the edge of his property abutting the creek, which city staff warned him would rise even higher than last Saturday when it soaked his backyard.
“We have no dike, no cement embankment, so we have to build sandbags from the ground,” Leung said. “If this week, it’s higher, then we expect that the water may come into the house.”
Just across the creek, Dennis Kovacic, manager of the Walnut Grove Hotel, said the water has caused trouble in the past and he’d “seen it over the top” before.
Kovacic said he was grateful the storm forecast overnight Thursday never materialized, however, he remained vigilant because of the snow melt causing Okanagan Lake to rise.
Like most other hotels in the region, the motel was full Friday afternoon, filled by residents fleeing their homes following evacuation notices for hundreds of properties in the region.
“Everyone here, I told them to be ready on a moment’s notice in case the waters do come up. But as of now, I think it looks pretty good,” Kovacic said.