Peter Spitzer is among residents of Paradise Valley Road who are sheltering in place north of Squamish, B.C., after their homes were cut off by river waters swollen by drenching rains and a dam discharge that followed.
He’s been at his property near the confluence of the Cheakamus River and Culliton Creek for nearly 40 years and has seen floodwaters break their banks before.
Spitzer and his neighbours in the flood zone about 16 kilometres from Squamish know the drill.
“We all stay put and help the neighbours out if somebody needs anything. We usually have food and water for quite a few days before we run out,” he said.
A procession of storms have drenched parts of southwest British Columbia with more than 300 millimetres of rain in 48 hours leading to multiple evacuation orders and alerts, as well as the shelter-in-place decree that was issued by the District of Squamish on Thursday morning.
But rains have eased for most of the province, including Metro Vancouver.
Environment Canada has lowered most rainfall warnings, although yellow warnings are still active for west and inland Vancouver Island, where heavy rains are forecast to last into Friday afternoon.
But the impacts of the deluge continue. Spitzer said parts of Paradise Valley Road are flooded and water under the now-closed Bailey Bridge out of the community is “very close to the top.”
“At the moment there’s no way out of the valley,” he said.
Spitzer said the water hadn’t reached his home but others were surrounded or their basements were flooded.
Video posted online shows trucks driving down roads covered in fast-flowing water. Another shows a resident standing at the front door of his home, which is under several feet of water, while a friend on the opposite bank calls across the water to make sure he is OK.
The District of Squamish said in a statement Thursday that the spill level from the Cheakamus Dam at Daisy Lake peaked at approximately 5 a.m. and was expected to decrease slowly throughout the day.
The district said that would create room in the reservoir for more rain, and eventually allow for roads to be reopened, adding that river levels were expected to peak Thursday.
A string of weather systems has slammed southwestern B.C. since last week, with 306 millimetres of rain falling at Port Mellon in the Howe Sound region since Tuesday, while 261 millimetres fell at Kennedy Lake on Vancouver Island.
The rain forced evacuation orders for parts of Vancouver Island, the Lil’wat First Nation in the central Interior, and parts of the village of Pemberton, about 150 kilometres north of Vancouver.
The entire village of Pemberton, population 3,400, is under an evacuation alert “out of an abundance of caution.”.
Pemberton’s evacuation order covers properties on Airport Road, including the community’s airport, wastewater treatment facility, wildland fire management base and a public golf course. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC website says Highway 99 east of Pemberton has been shut in both directions.
The Lilʼwat Nation has expanded an evacuation order and alert for the area from Kwetsa7 along the Lillooet River corridor to Lillooet Lake.
Elsewhere, the Strathcona Regional District issued a water conservation notice for the village of Sayward on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, as high flows in Newcastle Creek led to extra sediment in the water, and an evacuation order due to flooding and landslide risks remains in place for about 30 properties in the village of Zeballos on northwest Vancouver Island.
“A strong frontal system over the area will weaken today. Rain will continue to ease as the front weakens,” Environment Canada said Thursday.
Environment Canada said several locations reported more than 100 millimetres of rain in the last 48 hours, including Kennedy Lake on Vancouver Island (248 mm), Port Alberni (123 mm), Porteau Cove on the Sea to Sky Highway (140 mm), Whistler (138 mm), and Squamish (134 mm).
The storms have been associated with a spike in temperatures which saw daily records fall in more than 30 locations on Wednesday, including Abbotsford, where the mercury reached 20.1 Celsius, smashing a 45-year-old record by three degrees.
