Officials say there were no injuries or damage to critical infrastructure from a flash flood that forced the closure of part of Highway 1 through Savona, B.C., on Sunday night.
The route through the community west of Kamloops was inundated Sunday evening, following heavy thunderstorm activity in the area.
While no one was hurt, at least 20 homes are believed to have been damaged in the flood.
Residents in the community said it took just minutes to go from normal to chaos.
“We tried to stop it, it happened in 10 minutes,” said resident Justin Watson.
Watson had only moved into his home a week ago. Sunday’s heavy rain left his new basement flooded when a nearby creek overflowed.
“We’ve never been through rain like that before, it was crazy,” said Jamie Peters, who was caught in the deluge.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District activated its Emergency Operations Centre on Monday.
“It did rain hard throughout the region last evening and I think this one just hit the right spot or the wrong spot, however you want to look at it, for the Savona area,” Thomspon Nicola Regional District Emergency Operations Centre spokesperson Amanda Ellison said.
“I think we were aware that there was a warning for thunder and lightning storms and some heavy rain, but we were not aware of an imminent threat of flooding in that region.”
Highway 1 has since reopened, but drivers are being warned of reduced speed limits to accommodate work crews in the area.
Anyone whose property was affected is asked to call the district at 250-377-7188.