Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Jill Sperling

Flooding preparations

City of Merritt confident in flooding preparations

Apr 22, 2020 | 3:54 PM

MERRITT — The city of Merritt has been hit hard by flooding in the past few years and it’s not unusual to see residents sandbagging around their properties in the spring.

Currently, there are no visible signs of panic in the city, even as the water begins to rise in the rivers that run through the community.

“They seem to be coming up quite quickly, and from my understanding it’s two or three weeks earlier than usual,” Chief Administrative Officer Scott Hildebrand said. “That’s good news, we think. We are actually optimistic with that, thinking that the water flow is coming sooner and at a slower pace or at a more favourable pace.”

The city has not begun sandbagging yet, but Hildebrand says it is ready to do so quickly.

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“We have a sandbag stockpile of about 100,000 right now and we’re working closely with (Emergency Management BC) on a sandbag filling program that’s going to benefit the entire area, including our First Nations partners as well.”

Two years ago, Merritt resident Mischelle Pierce and her neighbours had to rush to save their homes along Second Avenue when water came flowing down the street.

“The water in the river we were dealing with it,” Pierce said. “We were all sandbagged, but then they let water out of Nicola Lake and unfortunately at the corner right here on the highway couldn’t hold it, and so it all came rushing down Second Avenue.”

The house next door to Pierce was damaged beyond repair.

In the past few days, Pierce has witnessed the Nicola River, which runs behind her house, rise.

She isn’t expecting a repeat of what happened in 2018.

“I feel really maybe overly confident this year,” Pierce said. “I think we’re prepared, we’ve built our land up a little bit. I think the regional district, I think who’s in charge of the dam has done a good job, they’ve lowered Nicola Lake, we’ve been out there, it’s probably the lowest I’ve ever seen it.”

While some residents are confident in the precautionary steps that have been taken, others are slightly more apprehensive after flooding in previous years.

“On a scale of one to 10, I’d be about a six right now,” said Colleen Waddell, manager of the Eldorado Mobile Home Park. “That being said, Mother Nature has her own rules and she can change the scheme anytime she wants.”

The Eldorado Mobile Home Park has experienced flooding before and the concern remains.

“Upstream from us at Eldorado Mobile Home Park there’s been a lot of diking done and it has put us at a much greater risk,” Waddell said.

Hildebrand says Merritt is preparing, should the worst happen.

“We’re very well prepared, but things can change very quickly,” he said, “so we’re very vigilant in our preparation.”