Local state of emergency remains in effect for Cache Creek

Cache Creek residents will remain on flood watch in the week ahead with the lingering threat of wet weather potentially worsening conditions.

This weekend, residents of a home near Cache Creek, B.C., were ordered to leave their property as rising floodwaters posed an “imminent threat.” The town that is west of Kamloops, B.C.,  posted a notice on Sunday, advising that, due to flooding, it was declaring a local state of emergency.

“At this time a single property is under an evacuation order,” a notice from the Village of Cache Creek read.  “The RCMP have already been in contact with the property owner. No other properties are currently under evacuation alert or order.”

1:54 Penticton dam preparing for ‘higher than normal’ lake levels

The evacuated property is on the Trans Canada Highway and the flooding in the area was anticipated earlier in the weekend, particularly at the Quartz Road culvert.

As conditions worsened over the weekend, however, the mayor warned area residents to stay at least 20 feet away from the banks of all waterways.

Weather improved on Monday with temperatures dropping a couple of degrees but the threat of trouble still lingers.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon said the forecast shows a chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms in the days ahead, while temperatures from Tuesday to Thursday are expected to stay in the high 20s C.

“We’re not expecting a lot of precipitation, but certainly there is a risk of some showers or thunderstorms developing on Wednesday and Thursday,” Sekhon said.

1:50 Chance of drought looms with rainfall well below average in parts of B.C.

“However, it’s really once we get into Friday that we’re looking at the potential for some heavy precipitation in the area. Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty around that …  that’s going to be something that we’re watching for because heavy precipitation with already high flows could prove to be quite dangerous.”

While flood watch is far from ideal, the conditions that led to one home being evacuated and others being on flood watch aren’t too unusual for this time of year.

“Over this past weekend we saw some of the warmest weather of the whole year so far and we saw temperatures in that Cache Creek and Kamloops area climb above 30 C, even setting a new record on Saturday and we know a lot of snow melted with that,” he said.

April started out off fairly cool and stayed that way throughout most of the month. It was when the mercury rose sharply to 30 C on the last day of the month that conditions became unusual.

“That’s a bit rare for April but not out of the ordinary for May,” Sekhon said.

The River Forecast Centre said there would be challenges in the days ahead as hot weather settled in.

“An upper low is expected to bring unsettled weather and showers today, particularly for the South Interior,” the centre said in a statement Sunday.

“Another period of warmer temperatures is expected next week, with well above temperatures expected.”

Across several B.C. areas, rivers have been rising in response to elevated snowmelt runoff.

According to the centre, lows in areas around the Nazko River, West Road (Blackwater) River, Bonaparte River, Deadman River, and Criss Creek are currently in the two-year to 10-year range with additional rises forecast Sunday and into next week.

The Ministry of Forests advised that river levels are expected to rise rapidly and being near riverbanks, creeks and fast-flowing bodies of water is dangerous.