Close X
Wednesday, January 15, 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But he and others received a reprieve Thursday when the Village of Pemberton rescinded evacuation alerts for several dozen properties whose residents had previously been told to be ready to leave on short notice.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

BC crime data can be accessed online

BC crime data can be accessed online
Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam residents can now access police data about crime in their cities online. The Coquitlam R-C-M-P says it has launched its new property crime dashboard, allowing members of the public to explore crimes reported in the cities on an interactive map tool. 

BC crime data can be accessed online

Ibrahim Ali trial

Ibrahim Ali trial
An RCMP expert testifying at Ibrahim Ali's murder trial said the first DNA evidence linking the accused to the killing of a 13-year-old girl in Burnaby, B.C., came from a discarded cigarette butt. Christine Crossman says Ali's DNA from the cigarette was then matched to the DNA recovered from the body of the girl who was found dead in Burnaby's Central Park six years ago.

Ibrahim Ali trial

Man walked naked out of shower, found Mountie in his bedroom: lawsuit

Man walked naked out of shower, found Mountie in his bedroom: lawsuit
A British Columbia man who is suing the RCMP claims he walked naked out of his shower to find a female uniformed Mountie standing in his bedroom. Kirk Forbes says the encounter in his Coquitlam home in June 2022 left him "shocked, confused and embarrassed."  

Man walked naked out of shower, found Mountie in his bedroom: lawsuit

Small plane with engine failure makes emergency landing on highway near Salmo, B.C.

Small plane with engine failure makes emergency landing on highway near Salmo, B.C.
Mounties in southeastern British Columbia say the pilot of a small plane used Highway 6 as a runway after experiencing engine trouble.  Police say a member of the public informed them on Tuesday that the plane was parked on the side of the highway, near Salmo.  

Small plane with engine failure makes emergency landing on highway near Salmo, B.C.

Pedestrian dies in Abbotsford crash

Pedestrian dies in Abbotsford crash
Police in Abbotsford say a 35-year-old pedestrian died late last night after being hit by a vehicle. The death came just hours after an unrelated head-on crash involving two vehicles in the southwest corner of Abbotsford, leaving both drivers -- a 49-year-old man and 29-year-old woman -- with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Pedestrian dies in Abbotsford crash

Weeks of worry ease as alerts lift for two B.C. wildfires outside Kamloops, Lillooet

Weeks of worry ease as alerts lift for two B.C. wildfires outside Kamloops, Lillooet
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued the "all clear" to residents affected by the Ross Moore Lake fire which was sparked by lightning nine weeks ago and scorched nearly 114 square kilometres before being held. The B.C. Wildfire Service says an area restriction order covering travel through the fire zone remains in effect until at least Friday.

Weeks of worry ease as alerts lift for two B.C. wildfires outside Kamloops, Lillooet