River levels have peaked which is great news for many residents who were asked to leave their homes Sunday May 31, 2020 through Monday.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary Emergency Operations Centre officially rescinded a total of 127 evacuation orders, however, those properties are still on evacuation alert.
Six properties on Beatrice St. in Johnson Flats and seven properties in Manly Meadows east of Grand Forks will remain on evacuation order due to floodwater in the area, lack of access to homes and the current existing flood threat.
“Our focus today has been to get as many people back into their homes as soon as possible so these residents can return to some sense of normalcy. We are keeping our evacuation alert for over 1,000 properties in place for now due to rain in the forecast for the coming weekend,” said Mark Stephens, EOC Director.
The BC River Forecast Centre has downgraded its Flood Warning to a High Streamflow Advisory as of June 2, meaning rivers could still rapidly rise. Minor flooding in low-lying areas is still a possibility but no major flooding is expected in the coming days.
Rain and warm weather is forecast for the weekend, which means the higher than normal snowpack melting paired with more rainfall could result in flood risk returning to what it was only days prior.
For that reason the RDKB has decided to keep flood protection works in place, including the Tiger dam in downtown Grand Forks and the 68th Street berm until at least the end of the week.
The RDKB says they will continue to monitor all creeks and rivers and track BC River Forecast Centre and Environment Canada weather information. An EOC call centre has been set up for Boundary residents and is staffed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily.
The toll-free number for the call centre is 1-888-747-9119.
The RDKB warns everyone to stay away from the edges of watercourses and report any erosion or flooding to the Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre at 1-800-663-3456.For more information about snow and river levels as well as how to prepare for the 2020 freshet, visit emergency.rdkb.com. To register for the RDKB Emergency Alerting System, follow this link.