When Chute Creek breached its banks on Indian Rock Road in Naramata over the weekend, resident Grady Peat wasn’t about to let mother nature swallow his neighbour’s homes.
“It was roaring pretty good, it is pretty powerful stuff that water,” he said. “We had to sandbag because the water was flowing down and flooded the two homes here.”
An army of volunteers banded together to protect several waterfront properties along Okanagan Lake.
“As it came over it started flowing through these two houses creating the ruts here, the whole thing was just total water coming down,” Peat said.
Today Chute Creek looks more like a raging river as the water crashes down at a rapid speed.
The bridge crossing the creek is the only access point to civilization for at least nine properties to the south.
Residents said the bridge was covered in several inches of water over the weekend forcing the evacuation of at least nine properties.
“The neighbours over the bridge, they all adopted us, so we all were thankful to have rooms to stay in with all of our animals,” said evacuated resident Leslie Madsen.
Madsen expressed gratitude to those who stepped up.
“I’m actually going up to say thank you to some of them right now,” she said.
Kaitlyn Bray and her young family were also forced to flee to safety.
“We were told we were ok because we’re higher up on the hill but then an hour later they said you got to go, so packed up both of the kids.”
Several roads across the south Okanagan are washed out and barricades block access to the impassible roads.
A boil water notice has been issued for the entire Naramata water system.
“It is just showing a real plume of mud and sediment that is going into the lake systems and unfortunately that starts to hamper with the water intakes for our water system,” said Dale Kronebusch, Emergency Services Supervisor with the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.
Approximately 2,500 homes in Penticton are under a boil water notice after a water main washed out under Ellis Creek.
City crews are also working to clean up debris that washed ashore along Okanagan and Skaha Lakes.
Residents are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
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