Latest atmospheric river prompts flood preparations on Vancouver Island

While the latest atmospheric river to arrive on the B.C. coast has tapered off, it was enough to raise water levels on parts of Vancouver Island.

And after last year’s devastating floods, some communities aren’t taking any chances when it comes to rivers breaching their banks.

Members of the Cowichan Tribes spent Friday filling and stacking sandbags as a precautionary measure.

“Homes typically take one to two thousand sandbags to protect, again going up one, to two, to three feet, depending on the elevation,” Cowichan Tribes emergency manager Chris Jancowski told Global News from the busy worksite.

4:34 Fraser Valley farmers call for action on flood mitigation plans

“As well as the critical infrastructure is being protected with different tools such as hesco bags.”

Vancouver Island and parts of the South Coast were under a high streamflow advisory from the B.C. River Forecast Centre Friday, with the warning there was a passivity for water levels to rise rapidly.

By Friday afternoon, some areas had already recorded nearly 70 mm of rainfall, with the potential for minor flooding in low-lying areas.

“We’re seeing a little of that rebound in the rivers, really a transition from that drought concern to flood concern, particularly in certain areas,” David Campbell, who heads the forecast centre, explained.

Atmospheric rivers are a common meteorological phenomenon that involve long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere that carry water vapour from the tropics to other regions, where they deposit it as heavy rainfall.

They are a regular part of British Columbia’s weather patterns, but have drawn increased attention from meteorologists and emergency officials in the wake of the 2021 November storms which produced catastrophic floods and mudslides and destroyed highways across southwestern B.C.

2:39 Season’s first atmospheric river on B.C.’s coast

The lesson learned from 2021? Preparation is key.

“For example there are over four million sandbags that are ready to be deployed if necessary,” Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said.

“There are sandbagging machines in locations around the province. There’s more than ten kilometres of tiger dams and the gabions and already assets have been deployed to areas where we know there is a potential for flooding.”

Getting those assets and protections in place can take between a week and 10 days, even under ideal circumstances.

And even then, the work isn’t easy.

But being able to get ahead of the situation has proven to be a huge relief for some residents.

“I think people just appreciate being helped and being seen,” said Trevor Moore, a BC Wildfire Service member helping out on the sandbag line.

And while this whether event was short lived, more storms are on the way. Campbell said the province can expect to see between a dozen and two dozen more atmospheric rivers before the season is over.

So the sandbags aren’t going anywhere.

“The land is where the land is,” Jancowski  said.

“Taking these measures now, on almost a repetitive year-by-year basis is quite challenging for the community. But the more we do it, the more it becomes streamlined and expected.”