State of emergency declared for Nicola Lake-area, extended for Cache Creek

May 3, 2018 | 10:57 AM

KAMLOOPS AND CACHE CREEK, B.C. — The TNRD has declared a State of Local Emergency in Area “M” known as Beautiful Nicola Valley – North.

The area is question includes Nicola Lake, Douglas Lake, Stump Lake and Mamit Lake.

There are no evacuations being contemplated right now, but the regional district says declaring the state of emergency allows it to use emergency powers to authorize evacuations if necessary.

The province issued an Early Flood Advisory for Nicola Lake Thursday.

Meantime, warm weather, and consequently more flooding, has forced the Village of Cache Creek to extend its state of local emergency.

Mayor John Ranta says the Quartz Road culvert was unable to carry the amount of water starting last night.

“And so we had another event where the water was flowing over the road and down towards the highway,” he says. “I just drove by the culvert at the Dairy Queen and it’s sort of lapping at the edges of the sidewalk. It hasn’t gone over the sidewalk this morning that I can see, but it’s very close to going over the sidewalk and that is creating challenges.”

Ranta adds the Bonaparte River, which was expected to peak in the May 1-2 period, continues to fluctuate.

“It’s expected to go down as for the flows today a little bit, then it comes back up to where it was by the end of the week. So, we’re watching very closely on an ongoing basis.”

Ranta says ministry staff will be touring Cache Creek later today which he says “is probably good for response in the village” adding he’ll be seeking a declaration of eligibilty for disaster financial assistance.

As for damages, a dollar amount hasn’t been released, though Ranta says there is some water in some business and home basements.

“There’s an awful lot of water here, so people have been affected.”

Flooding first sparked a state of local emergency in Cache Creek last Friday when the snow melt caused Cache Creek to overflow its banks to the extent it had a river running down Highway 97 and Highway 1, carrying sticks and debris into business parking lots and briefly closing Highway 97.