UPDATED 1:25 p.m. Friday
High water in West Kelowna’s Smith Creek has caused damage to the ground surrounding a power pole on Gellatly Road.
The power to about 6,000 homes and businesses will be temporarily shut off as BC Hydro crews due emergency work to replace the pole.
Homes along the Gellatly waterfront will not have power for six hours due to the work.
Gellatly road has been shut down from Canyon Ridge to Boucherie Road.
The Emergency Operations Centre is in operation in the Central Okanagan to support emergency personnel responding to flooding in the area.
In the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District, an Emergency Operations Centre has been activated to monitor rising water in creeks, rivers and lakes.
So far in that region, no road closures have been reported.
ORIGINAL STORY
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre has been activated to help crews in the field deal with flooding at numerous locations in the area.
They include Fintry Provincial Park which has been evacuated of one resident and several campers as a precaution.
Motorists on Westside Road in the area should be prepared for single-lane, alternating traffic as crews remove debris from Shorts Creek.
In Kelowna, there are reports Mill Creek has overflowed in the area of Adams Road, flooding businesses and properties. Flooding is also affecting some areas in the Ellison neighbourhood.
In West Kelowna, the fire department had to rescue a Capri Road resident from his live-in recreational vehicle after he was trapped by flood water from McDougall Creek.
The BC River Forecast Centre has issued a Flood Watch for Mission Creek in the Kelowna area as the water level is rising and may breach the banks.
Sandbags are available at central Okanagan fire halls for residents fearing possible flooding although they must provide their own sand.
With creeks raging from overnight thunderstorms and increased melt-water from warming temperatures, people are advised to be extra careful around water courses.
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