Residents and officials in Grand Forks, B.C., are keeping a close eye on river levels, after a high streamflow advisory was issued by the BC River Forecast Centre for the Kettle, Granby and surrounding tributaries.
The rising waters are a result of rapid snowmelt at higher elevations, after three straight days of temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s. The Mayor of Grand Forks says he’s confident his community is prepared for what’s to come.
“I’m fairly confident – we’ve come a long way since 2018,” said Everett Baker.
“I’m monitoring with city staff on an hourly basis now as we head into this week, so we’re watching – we’re prepared.”
In 2018, Grand Forks experienced the worst flooding in the city’s history, as the confluence of the Kettle and Granby rivers exceeded a 200-year flood level, forcing thousands to evacuate.
While temperatures upwards of 10 degrees or higher above normal for this time of year are forecasted to persist throughout the week, as well as possible rainfall over the weekend, Baker hopes history does not repeat itself.
“We’ve been in contact with the government, we do have their provincial assists like tiger dams and esco bins here in town,” said Baker.
“We’ve also made a request to use those assets early, to be a bit more proactive. We’re prepared if necessary to start that tomorrow if we’re given permission to do so.”
While the city works to protect everyone, Baker adds some are at a greater risk than others.
“There are certain communities, like South Ruckle, Riverside, Johnson Flatts, Manly Meadows,” said Baker.
“I certainly do not want to see us lose another community, or our city infrastructure, so we are preparing as best we can.”
Grand Forks resident Cindy Smallwood has lived along the Kettle River since 2019. Her home sustained water damage during the floods of 2018 prior to her purchasing it, and she is fully prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
“We take turns (watching the river levels) actually,” described Smallwood.
“My husband, myself, and I’ve got two teenagers — we take our turn, and we watch, and we know like ‘okay, it’s time, let’s pack up the animals and get out of here,’ and we prepared ahead of time too. We can be out of here in two hours.”
Smallwood adds that what happens over the next several days with respect to the weather will determine the fate of her home.
“I’m looking at it this year and we cross our fingers that if we don’t get any rain, we’ll be okay, but if we get that rain, we’ll flood,” said Smallwood.
Mayor Baker also stated that the City of Grand Forks will be setting up “strategic locations” around the city where residents can access sandbags so residents can further protect themselves.
At this time, everyone is being asked to stay away from all fast-flowing rivers and potentially unstable riverbanks in the area.
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