Update on flooding in Tulameen, Oliver area

The threat of flooding has prompted more evacuation orders in the south Okanagan and Similkameen.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen said 148 properties in Tulameen, northwest of Princeton, have been evacuated due to flooding.

“There was some concern as to when the water was going to stop rising and concern about people’s health and safety,” Tulameen’s fire chief Jody Woodford said. “We just want people to be prepared with high water and the consequences of it.”

“This area has always had flooding in the past, but the potential risk this year, which heightens the alarm, is the fact that we have a snow pack that hasn’t started to release yet,” she added.

Officials said Otter Lake, immediately north of Tulameen, has seen a rapid increase in lake level, flooding properties. There are concerns of water moving through the community into the Tulameen River.

The RDOS has placed an additional 157 Tulameen properties under evacuation alert.

“We have what they call a jump bag, and they said to get all of your necessities ready,” said Gerald Kuva, who’s under an evacuation alert. “With the high snow pack level and everything else, you’ve got to expect that living in a community like this.”

Bert Alderliesten, who’s also under an evacuation order, said he’s sleeping in a shed in the back.

“I talked to my neighbour…and she said she would wake me up if her feet were getting wet,” he said.

Meanwhile, a local state of emergency has been declared in Cawston due to an increased threat of flooding and debris flows from local creeks. However, no properties have been evacuated at this time.

In the Oliver area, more than a dozen homes remain on evacuation alert because of a high-flowing Park Rill Creek.

Currently, 17 homes are evacuated in the area.

The RDOS has released a drone video of the flooding in the Oliver area.

WATCH BELOW: Residents in Cawston are on edge as flood waters continue to rise. A state of emergency has been declared in the tiny community because of rising creeks. Crops have already been damaged by the rising water and as Kelly Hayes reports, it’s also starting to flood basements.

1:56 Cawston residents bracing for the worst