Close X
Saturday, January 11, 2025
ADVT 
National

Evacuation alerts lifted as flood risk recedes across B.C.'s South Coast

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Feb, 2024 10:57 AM
  • Evacuation alerts lifted as flood risk recedes across B.C.'s South Coast

Pemberton resident Dean Matt's anxiety has waxed and waned this week with the levels of the swollen Lillooet River on B.C.'s South Coast.

Matt, owner of a roofing company, said his property at the river's edge had been under threat earlier this week.

But he and others received a reprieve Thursday when the Village of Pemberton rescinded evacuation alerts for several dozen properties whose residents had previously been told to be ready to leave on short notice.

British Columbia's River Forecast Centre lifted a flood warning for the Lillooet and Squamish rivers, saying flows remain high but rainfall and snowmelt are tapering off.

"It was kind of stressful," said Matt. "That was the Monday or Tuesday night where it was pretty well full, the river.

"We got a good break in the weather on Tuesday, I think it was, so that pretty much saved us. If we wouldn't have got that break, it would have been scary."

The river forecast centre also downgraded flood advisories across the province's South Coast as a stretch of warm, wet weather eased, with forecasts returning closer to seasonal temperatures by the weekend.

"Based on forecasts and current observations on the ground, things are currently looking favourable," said Pemberton emergency program officer Sarah Toews. 

"We're cautiously optimistic that the kind of worst impacts have passed."

Environment Canada has also lifted a rainfall warning for the Howe Sound area, including Squamish.

A flood watch remains in effect for the Sproat and Somass rivers on Vancouver Island, while lower-level streamflow advisories cover the rest of the South Coast.

Avalanche Canada, meanwhile, said conditions remained "very dangerous" in alpine areas throughout the Sea to Sky corridor, including mountains surrounding Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton.

"Hunting for dry snow in the alpine will put you closest to harm's way," said the latest bulletin posted by the agency for that region.

Environment Canada said another round of daily high-temperature records fell across southwestern B.C. on Wednesday, with West Vancouver reaching 17.9 C, almost three degrees higher than the previous Jan. 31 record set in 1993.

The River Forecast Centre said rain from the warm air system is expected to ease Friday, and cooler conditions should arrive by the weekend.

The forecast is welcome news for Matt, whose property didn't end up getting flooded or evacuated, although he said the golf courses down the road were partially underwater before the river receded.

"I'm sure they're going to have quite a cleanup in the spring," Matt said. "But overall, things are kind of back to normal now."

An earlier update from the River Forecast Centre said rainfall since last Friday ranged from 70 to more than 500 millimetres across the South Coast, while unseasonable warmth added between 75 and 150 millimetres of snowmelt earlier this week.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Premier Eby condemns rise in hate crimes in B.C. stemming from Israeli-Hamas conflict

Premier Eby condemns rise in hate crimes in B.C. stemming from Israeli-Hamas conflict
British Columbia Premier David Eby is condemning the rise in hate crimes in the province, driven by the Israeli-Hamas war. Eby says in a written statement that his office has heard "directly" about a number of acts of antisemitism, such as the vandalism of a rabbi's home and two Jewish women being threatened with violence after a rally.  

Premier Eby condemns rise in hate crimes in B.C. stemming from Israeli-Hamas conflict

Man who jumped off Alex Fraser Bridge couldn't have been saved: IIO

Man who jumped off Alex Fraser Bridge couldn't have been saved: IIO
British Columbia's police watchdog has found that officers could not have prevented the death of a man who jumped off a bridge in Delta this week.  The Independent Investigations Office of B-C says that officers responded to a call on Monday to find the man in distress and standing outside the railing on the side of the Alex Fraser Bridge.

Man who jumped off Alex Fraser Bridge couldn't have been saved: IIO

Driver shot multiple times: NWPD

Driver shot multiple times: NWPD
The New Westminster Police Department say they are looking into a report from a driver who says another driver shot his vehicle multiple times Wednesday afternoon. Police say a man reported that the driver of a black, two door Infiniti vehicle shouted at him before pointing a gun and shooting numerous times, resulting in a broken passenger side window.

Driver shot multiple times: NWPD

Parks Canada says whirling disease could decimate fish, respect B.C. closures

Parks Canada says whirling disease could decimate fish, respect B.C. closures
Parks Canada officials say they're closely watching lakes and rivers in Kootenay and Yoho national parks for a parasite that could "decimate" as much as 90 per cent of young trout and salmon. The first suspected case of the disease in British Columbia was found in September in Emerald Lake, in Yoho National Park, prompting the closure of the lake and other nearby waterways. 

Parks Canada says whirling disease could decimate fish, respect B.C. closures

Hundreds arrested for shoplifting in latest Vancouver police blitz

Hundreds arrested for shoplifting in latest Vancouver police blitz
A police crackdown on violent and chronic shoplifters in Vancouver has ended in 258 arrests and the recovery of almost $57,000 in stolen goods.  Vancouver police say the arrests were made during a two-week operation in September, which was co-ordinated with other Lower Mainland police departments, resulting in another 82 arrests in Delta, Langley, Richmond and Burnaby. 

Hundreds arrested for shoplifting in latest Vancouver police blitz

U.S. man lost at sea is rescued by Canadian crew west of Vancouver Island

U.S. man lost at sea is rescued by Canadian crew west of Vancouver Island
Sharp-eyed mariners on a Canadian vessel have rescued a U.S. man, one day after the United States Coast Guard ended its search for a commercial fishing boat from Washington state with two people aboard. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier says crew aboard the Canadian fish boat Ocean Sunset spotted a life-raft drifting in open ocean far west of Vancouver Island on Thursday.  

U.S. man lost at sea is rescued by Canadian crew west of Vancouver Island