Residents of a mobile home park in Penticton, B.C., have been given the all-clear to return to their homes amid safety concerns around a possible rock slide.
But in an update to residents issued Thursday evening, the city said people living in the affected area should still be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Twenty-five units in the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park were ordered evacuated Tuesday and a state of local emergency was declared when city officials spotted a large and potentially unstable boulder on the hillside above the south Okanagan homes.
The city said Thursday that the construction of a larger lock-block retaining wall to provide protection against any potential rockfall had eased safety concerns.
“Based on expert advice, we’re comfortable the new retaining wall will provide an appropriate buffer as we begin the next stage in securing the rock and this allows to lift the order for residents who will now remain on evacuation alert,” Emergency Operations Centre director Kristen Dixon said in a media release.
Work on stabilizing the rock could take several weeks, according to the city.
While that work is underway, the city is warning people to stay out of the area between the unstable bank and the new retaining wall.
With files from the Canadian Press