Merritt releases return-home plan

The City of Merritt has achieved a number of operational objectives that have allowed the town to start welcoming residents back home in phases.

The evacuation order for Phase 1 is expected to be lifted Nov. 23 at noon, meaning residents will be put on an evacuation alert and can return home but will remain on a boil water notice.

The City asks that residents be extremely conscious of water use, as the Kengard well is the only well currently feeding this system and minimizing water use is necessary to preserve fire flow.

Prior to the Phase 1 return, residents should acquire sufficient food and supplies to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours as grocery stores are working to come back online for Nov. 23, but there is no guarantee on what products will be available.

People returning during this first phase should note that some road barricades will remain in place at the following locations:

• Voght Street at Grimmett Street

• Nicola Avenue at Juniper Drive

• Nicola Avenue at Coldwater Road

A reduced speed zone of 30 km/h has also been implemented on Juniper Drive and Parker Drive. In Phase 2, barricades will be removed, however access to the areas south of Nicola Avenue will be restricted.

During this time, the Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre will not be open and 9-1-1 services will be available with service to Kamloops. Interior Health is actively working on bringing additional health services online.

Residents in Phase 2 between the RCMP Station and Nicola Ave, were not affected by flood inundation but prior to lifting the evacuation order for the area additional water flushing and testing must be conducted. An update for this area will be provided by Nov. 25.

A mix of properties in Phase 3 South of Nicola Ave, were and were not affected by the floods. Timelines on removing the evacuation order in these neighbourhoods will be established soon.

Rapid damage assessments are complete and the City is in the process of contacting those property owners with properties deemed unsafe.

Concurrently, the City is developing a plan to communicate rapid damage assessment information to residents and to enable daytime only access to most portions of the Phase 3 area. This will allow for people to collect belongings and assess damages.

BC Hydro will be offering eligible residential and commercial customers who were affected by the evacuation order a credit for the electricity consumed for the duration of the time they were out of their home if the order is for five days or longer.

For residential customers whose properties were unfortunately destroyed as a result of the natural disaster, BC Hydro will automatically waive all electricity charges since the previous billing period, including for electricity used prior to the evacuation order.

Read the full Return Home Plan here.