Tulameen area evacuees swam through flood waters in freezing conditions

The fire chief for the Tulameen area, in southern B.C., has described a harrowing week for her area as communities flooded in quick succession.

In a video statement released by the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS), Fire Chief Jody Woodford said that on more the one occasion evacuating residents were forced to swim to dry land, sometimes in frigid conditions, in the middle of the night.

“I had multiple amounts of people with tragic situations occurring all at the same time so my main priority was to get everybody out to dry land, and be safe and comfortable,” the fire chief said.

Woodford said it started on Sunday with flooding in the Tulameen River Road area.

But the floodwaters toppled powerlines and trees, so ground rescue teams couldn’t get in to evacuate people.

“Some people made it out and actually had to swim, abandon their vehicles, and swim to dry land, and then walk to the firehall,” said Woodford.

Then within a few hours the Coalmont area also flooded and residents there were evacuated, the fire chief said.

Next, within a day, the local lake system also flooded.

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“A lot of people in those homes, at 11:30 at night, at -10 were having to swim to shore or swim to dryland and then walk to the firehall,” Woodford said.

Woodford said the area is used to high water in the spring, but this week flooding in region happened unusually quickly.

“This one here came up to these homes within minutes,” the fire chief said.

“We had a two-foot snowpack up in the mountains, and then a heavy amount of rain, so a lot of tributaries. When they came down they brought all the debris and trees with them.”

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Woodford and area firefighters working to respond to the emergency have also been personally affected by the flooding.

“My firefighters…I’m so proud of them. Half of them are flooded out and out of their homes too. Myself, I’m out of my home because I was flooded out of Coalmont. My heartfelt concern is about keeping all the people safe, especially now that we are in the weather we are,” said Woodford.

The flooding was quickly followed by a cold snap and the area was blanketed in snow on Thursday.

The regional district said it isn’t aware of any residents who are still stranded, in need of help, and cannot get out.

However, there may be some residents whose properties have been blocked off, who have been offered support to get out but have decided to stay, the regional district said.

With the flooding affecting utilities, the RDOS said communication in the area remains a challenge and some properties do not have power.

Woodford said her community is in need of donations of warm clothes, heaters, dehumidifiers, trash pumps, and toiletries.

All donations are to be directed towards the Red Cross, the regional district said.

Members of the public can also contact the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Emergency Operations Centre if they have assistance to offer.

Evacuation orders and alerts remain in place in the Tulameen and Coalmont areas.