Melting snow pushes water levels higher as flooding hits the Interior

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MERRITT (NEWS 1130) – The snowmelt is wreaking havoc on people living in the Interior as dozens of more properties were placed under evacuation order over the weekend thanks to flooding near Merritt, meantime, a local state of emergency continues in Peachland.

The River Forecast Centre is issuing plenty of warnings for streamflows that are expected to remain high as the snow continues to melt at a rapid rate.

In Peachland, the mayor is describing sudden springs bubbling up on some properties with water running down people’s yards and driveways.

Mayor Cindy Fortin says a local state of emergency was declared on Sunday and crews have seen a landslide and water flowing across Highway 97 because of an overflowing storm drain.

“They have diverted it and they’re hoping that will do the trick but in the meantime so that we can do whatever we need to do. That’s really important when you have a situation like that. We need to be able to do all the emergency things that are necessary in order to take care of that situation and get it fixed.”

There are no evacuations or major road closures in Peachland and while there are flooding concerns, Fortin says officials are keeping on top of everything. “They’ve just never seen before and we’ve never seen it quite like this.”

Meanwhile, in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, another 54 properties were ordered evacuated on Sunday northwest of Merritt, including the entire Lower Nicola Mobile Home Park while several others are on evacuation alert. That’s in addition to the 15 that were forced to leave on Saturday.

Add those to evacuations and alerts in the Okanagan-Shuswap and in the Cariboo along the Nazko River where 120 properties have been under evacuation orders since April 29.

The River Forecast Centre has cautioned that warming temperatures will likely continue to push up water levels across many parts of the province throughout the week.

In total, flooding has now forced 20 separate evacuation orders across the province.

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