Several evacuation orders and alerts have been issued by the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary as water levels rise across the region.
On Saturday, 40 properties were evacuated due to high water in the Kettle and Granby rivers. That includes 34 properties on 12th Street South in Johnson Flats in Grand Forks and another six properties in the Highway 3/Gilpin Creek Forest Service Road/Nursery Road area and south of the airport.
The RDKB estimates that 86 people were forced to leave their homes.
The City of Grand Forks also declared a local state of emergency on Saturday.
Another 10 properties on the northeast side of the Granby and Kettle rivers in Grand Forks are on evacuation alert.
Twelve properties in Christina Lake and 16 in the Village of Fruitvale are also on alert.
“An additional 900 feet of Tiger Dam were deployed on Granby Road just north of the Yale Bridge,” says emergency management staff.
“As part of the City’s downtown storm water distribution plan, the last vulnerable outfall was successfully blocked, preventing rising river water from flowing back into the storm system.”
Unfortunately, officials for the City of Grand Forks say one of the tiger dams had a piece removed which caused water to leak out. Locals are encouraged to immediately call the RCMP if they see people tampering with the tiger dams, road closure barricades or other emergency equipment.
Late Saturday, the city said BC Wildfire Service crews had arrived and were local volunteers helping fill sandbags.
“The river forecast suggests that the Granby River will peak this evening with levels anticipated to start dropping on Sunday, while the Kettle is anticipated to peak Sunday evening,” adds emergency management staff.
“Weather conditions locally and in the snowpack areas could cause these forecasts to vary through the rest of the weekend.”
A flood warning remains in effect for the boundary region and includes the Kettle and Granby rivers.
Environment Canada also has a special weather statement in place for the region.
Heavy rain is expected in the West Kootenays and near Kootenay Lake and could increase the risk of existing flooding and mudslides, says the weather agency.
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