Kamloops Declares a State of Local Emergency

Update 2:30 p.m.: Some residents can now go back to their homes, but others are still under Evacuation Order. Click here for full details.

Update: Officials are now assessing the damage and the City has given more instructions to evacuated residents. For more information, click here.

Original Story:

The City of Kamloops has declared a State of Local Emergency due to Tuesday night’s flash flooding.

An Evacuation Order was issued for residents in Oakdale Mobile Home Park, Irving Place, Parkview Drive, Rhonmore Crescent, Oak Hills Boulevard, and the 2400 block of Westsyde Road. The Order and Declaration of Local Emergency for the area was to allow for proper assessment of damaged properties as well as return of utilities.

Flooding in the Oak Hills area. Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com

On Wednesday morning, BC Safety Authority will inspect the homes affected by floodwaters. RCMP, City Bylaw staff, and private security were at the area through Tuesday night.

The City is hoping to rescind both the Evacuation Order and the Declaration as soon as possible to reduce stress. They ask the public to look at local media for updates to the evacuation.

City crews continued pumping water in the flooded areas through the night, and final clean up of Westsyde Road and area sidewalks will continue on Thursday.

Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com

Thankfully, Environment Canada isn’t forecasting more rain for the Kamloops area, but rather a hot and dry trend over the next few days.

Everyone is asked to limit travel and watch their speed in the affected Westsyde area. There will be traffic control personnel on the scene to manage the flow of traffic.

Flooding began late afternoon at about 3 to 3:30 p.m., with dime-sized hail and flash flooding filling up the Oak Hills area with water and debris. On Tuesday night, Westsyde Road was covered by a torrent of debris letting loose above the road and flowing into the Oak Hills trailer park area.

The emergency centre at the Interior Savings Centre. (Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com)

In all, 40 mobile homes and 20 other residences were evacuated, with an emergency reception centre at Interior Savings Centre. About 40 other nearby homes were put on alert in case they had to leave on short notice.

Traffic Tuesday night on Westsyde Road was extremely slow in both directions, with crews continually labouring to keep debris off the road. The rain kept coming in patches over the area, each one bringing more water across the roadway. Officials had pumper trucks trying to keep water from accumulating in the trailer park area.

Kamloops Bylaw officers and emergency support staff were providing water and other supplies for affected residents at the Interior Savings Centre. (Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com)

Crews worked through the night to ensure the safety of residents, and RCMP and security companies were there to secure the evacuated homes.

Long-time residents of Oak Hills told KamloopsBCNow that they'd never seen anything like this before and talked about what it was like to wade through so much water. A Kamloops resident even made a time lapse of all the rain hitting the area.