By Chad Klassen

Wet weather has Lower Nicola residents on alert

May 11, 2017 | 8:00 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — With the rain storm hitting the entire Thompson region, residents in the Lower Nicola are bracing for more flooding along Guichon Creek. 

The washed out bridge on Marshall Road has been removed by the Ministry of Transportation, which has improved flow of the creek. But the weather is an ongoing concern. 

“They’ve cleared the obstruction in that area, and temporary access for folks on Marshall Road is now through the railway bridge,” said TNRD ‘Area M’ Director Randy Murray. “A lot of things have been secured in the last couple days, but now with the weather and the rain, we’re really in a holding pattern right now. Wait and see. Certainly hoping it won’t be a prolonged weather event.”

Murray says the Lower Nicola Indian Band was planning to conduct some maintenance work further upstream on Guichon Creek, but couldn’t due to safety concerns. 

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In the meatime, there are concerns also around levels in Nicola Lake. 

“Yesterday we took some proactive measures out around Nicola Lake, and people have sandbags and sand and they were preparing,” said Murray. “They’ve been given evacuation instructions just in case the lake level rises more than it has. We still have evacuation alerts in place, so we’re ready to go. The declaration of local emergency is in place should we need to take action, so I think we’ve done all that we can do.”