Cherry Creek rising again after rainfall event, culvert diversion

May 12, 2017 | 6:30 PM

CHERRY CREEK, B.C. — Heading into the weekend, the flood watch continues around the Southern Interior. Water levels along Cherry Creek have risen slightly in the last 24 hours.

The rain event from Thursday, combined with work being done along the washed-out Greenstone Road, has increased the velocity of the creek’s flow.

Corine LeBourdais says the creek has risen more than a foot since Thursday, and more sandbags were placed along the creek bed Friday morning at her place, which has been hit hard by the flooding. Some water leaked through the sandbags with more rain, and the Ministry of Transportation removing barriers that were previously holding back some of the creek’s flow.

“Obviously the rain had an impact because there’s more water above. But I’m not really sure what the connection is between the rain and the fact that the culvert they’re cleaning as well. You’ve got pooled water as well that’s coming through,” notes LeBourdais, who is keeping a constant eye on water levels.

“Because I can’t go up there and monitor what’s happening at the top, I can’t really tell you how much of this coming from which avenue. All I can say is that it’s gone up, and it’s gone up noticeably since yesterday, and it continues to run quite hard.”

At Arnold Blair’s home next door in Cherry Creek, more of his property has been taken out by the force of the water, which has come up in the backyard in the last day.

“Sandbagged again this morning,” says Blair. “We got some stuff in the creek moving. Moved out some trees thanks to a logging company. We’re holding our own, but we’re losing property as we speak.”