Sportsmens Bowl flood evacuees feel left in dark, evacuated for 1.5 months

Frustrated flood-stricken residents on Sportsmens Bowl Road north of Oliver, B.C. say they have been left in the dark while their homes have been under an evacuation order for six weeks.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen’s Emergency Operations Centre issued the order on April 21–47 days ago–because of a road washout causing limited access to properties.

Seventy-five year old Allen Lamb said he’s been living in a travel trailer on a friend’s property.

“It’s testy at times when you have to live in a travel trailer after living in a house,” he said. “Coming home to your house is like going to a luxury hotel!”

“It’s been stressful. We don’t like it.”

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Lamb is concerned about a damaged fence that could give wildlife access to orchards and vineyards in the small agricultural community.

“We have no idea what we’re going to do with our property,” he said. “The fence is down and I’m the first one in the valley that keeps the deer out. If the deer can get into my place, they can carry on throughout the holes in the fences.”

“We are farmers. I am a retired auto mechanic, but we have peaches, and we can’t have the animals come in and destroy our crops.”

READ MORE: Firefighters descend on south Okanagan to help sandbag flooded communities

Another Sportsmens Bowl resident, Stan Marshall, said he can access his property via a neighbour’s vineyard.

He has not had to evacuate, but is frustrated with the lack of information provided to residents.

“The main frustration is there is no one single entity that you can go to to get an idea of what they are doing in the short-term or what they are doing in the long-term,” he said.

“If we do have a huge natural catastrophe, what I’ve learned in our part of the province is–it’s going to be mayhem.”

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The RDOS said the province is responsible for water management and road maintenance while local government is in charge of emergency response.

“They’ve been waiting for the water to go down to work on the road so it’s all waiting for stuff to happen in order to get the residents back into their properties,” said emergency management program coordinator Paul Edmonds.

WATCH BELOW: Some flood-stricken residents on Sportsmens Bowl Road near Oliver are expressing frustration as they’ve been evacuated for 47 days and counting.

1:55 Frustration mounting on Sportsmens Bowl

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said in a statement that additional culverts are being installed and sediment is being removed in an attempt to get water back in the original channels.

“Ministry staff will be assessing the infrastructure needs when repairs are completed and will increase the size of pipes where necessary to increase water flow rates,” the statement said. “We appreciate the patience of residents and drivers during this time, and will have the road repaired and reopened as soon as it is safe to do so.”

A worker on site told Global Okanagan the road could be reopened to single lane local traffic by this weekend.