Mission firefighters were in flood-preparedness mode Wednesday, inspecting the integrity of the Silverdale dike and canvassing some of the commercial milling and logging businesses that have exposure along the water, as the district expected water levels in the Fraser River to peak Thursday at just over six metres.
“We want to make sure there is no infrastructure damage to the dikes,” said the district’s Assistant Fire Chief Larry Wilkinson.
“We have to get ahead of it before it gets ahead of us,” he said, adding crews would do another inspection Wednesday evening and this morning. “But we feel prepared.”
Fraser Valley communities have been on alert for flooding since Monday, when the B.C. River Forecast Centre issued a high streamflow advisory with the likelihood of minor flooding for in low-lying areas the lower Fraser River.
The water surge was due to the heavy rainfall that caused flooding in Prince George coursing down the river. Water levels were expected to be higher than July 4 – the last surge, which caused a hydro tower collapse in Surrey – and to peak Thursday.
“That pulse of rain has worked its way through the Fraser Canyon and just passed Hope, and we’re seeing a peak at Hope as we speak,” Dave Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said Wednesday afternoon, noting flows there were at 10,000 cubic metres a second.
A second surge due to rainfall in the Upper Fraser region is expected along the Lower Fraser on Monday or Tuesday, he said.
Campbell said the last time the Fraser was this high, this late in the season was in the 1920s.
Wednesday afternoon, water levels at the Mission gauge were at 5.66 metres.
Water levels there are expected to peak at 5.85 m, downgraded from an expected 6.04 m, by Thursday morning at 8 a.m. before subsiding.
“It’s got to be 6.4 metres before we would see water come over the natural bank of the river,” said Mission emergency preparedness coordinator Ian Fitzpatrick.
“And we’ve got two dikes that protect most of the area. The one we are watching is the Silverdale dike, as we’ve got half a dozen businesses situated there.”
Water levels have been higher later into the summer this year, due to the cool spring delaying the freshet and higher rainfall. They usually peak in late May or early June.
“At this point, we’re just waiting and watching,” explained the District of Mission’s environmental services manager Mike Younie.
Younie said that the district’s active flood plan, including sandbagging, evacuation orders and launching emergency services doesn’t kick in until over six meters.
He said the district felt ready for flooding. “We’ve been preparing all spring,” he said of the region’s efforts to shore up shorelines.
In Maple Ridge, the municipality began to send out dike patrols when the water level hit 5 m, with particular attention to a stretch of river between the Albion ferry to Haney Wharf that runs fast and high.
“For us, hitting six metres is a trigger in terms of contacting members of community in low-lying areas,” said Maple Ridge district communications manager Fred Armstrong.
Armstrong added that in addition to the flood risk the higher, faster river flows later in the season posed safety risks for recreational boaters, and also contributed to greater riverbank erosion.
“These waters are moving really fast, so we are reminding people to be really diligent this time of year,” he said.
In Abbotsford, Fire Chief Don Beer said the city’ emergency planning division has been watching the river levels continuously over the past few weeks and began twice-daily patrols of the dike Tuesday.
Beer said they have seen some water boils and general seepage along the river, but no flooding.
“The work we did in 2007 in fortifying our Fraser River dikes has really paid off,” he said. “We feel that from a dike height and strength perspective we’re in good shape.”
Meanwhile, in Prince George, the B.C. River Forecast Centre downgraded its flood warning to a high streamflow alert Wednesday morning, as rain and flooding subsided. There, the water level reached a peak of 9.79 m, and have been receding since Monday. However, more rain – up to 50 millimetres – is forecast in the region for this week, which could mean more flooding there and downstream.
Mike Davis, spokesman for the city of Prince George, said the city will extend its state of emergency over the weekend until they see what the new rainfall brings.
“It’s hard to predict. We’re keeping a very close eye on things,” Davis said, noting that as of Wednesday afternoon, water levels had dropped to about 8.59 m, down from a high of almost 9.8 on Sunday when flooding was at a peak.
Nineteen homes along Farrell Street were ordered evacuated as waters rose to levels seen only once before in the past 10 years. Eleven remain on evacuation order, but others have been allowed to return to their homes. Eight families sought emergency assistance, and six of them are still unable to return to their homes in an area still underwater and cordoned off by RCMP.
Get the latest updates at the B.C. River Forecast Centre’s website: bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca.
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