Grand Forks, B.C. mayor, residents feel risk of flooding over despite flood watch

Residents and officials continue to monitor river levels in Grand Forks, B.C., closely after the Boundary Region was put under a flood watch for the second time this spring, but the city’s mayor says the worst is likely behind them.

“We’re obviously watching the rivers, but our highest level was May 6^th, and we’re about a foot below that and our protection work,” said Grand Forks Mayor Everett Baker.

“We would need a substantial amount of rain — obviously the river is running fast so we’re cautioning our residents to be careful near the rivers, but I’m confident we’re past that stage.”

More than 44,000 sandbags have been utilized by residents this spring, and over 3,000 feet of tiger dam is set up in areas that were heavily hit by flood waters in 2018, when the city experienced its worst flooding in its history.

Baker adds that the community has learned a lot of lessons the hard way since then.

1:48 Residents prepare after Southern Interior put on flood watch

“We’ve become almost experts in it now,” Baker said.

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“I think us working with the province and the mitigation we’ve done with both the feds and the province’s help has protected our downtown.”

For residents like Cindy Smallwood and her family, living next to the Kettle River means they’re constantly checking on the water levels. The family has been living out of boxes for over a month, prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

“Twenty minutes — I figure we’ve got 20 minutes, and we’ve got our unit (camper) on the high spot, our two units up there and that’s where we’ll stay,” said Smallwood.

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While her family is taking the flood watch seriously, the past few weeks have taken a toll on them, causing many sleepless nights.

“We had all that rain on Monday, so I was up for most of the night with my spotlight looking to see how far the water had come up, and it came up about a foot that night within an hour,” said Smallwood.

“Then at around 2 in the morning, my husband gets up and does his shift (watching the river).”

With the water just a few feet away from her back deck, she believes the water is slowly starting to come down.

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“The fields around us are full of water, but it has gone down a lot since the peak,” said Smallwood.

“As long as we don’t get a big storm coming in, I think we’ll be safe, but you’re never out of the woods until its done.”

According to Environment Canada, there is a 60-per cent chance of showers in Grand Forks on Tuesday night with a risk of a thunderstorm, a 60-per cent chance of rain on Wednesday, followed by a 30-per cent chance of rain on Thursday.