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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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Temp:
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0°C
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Feels like:
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-4°C
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Humidity:
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100%
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Flood warning issued along Fraser River |
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Written by Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 20 May 2008 |
Laura and Tony Blonski view the Fraser River from the gazebo at Paddlewheel Park in South Fort George. The Fraser and Nechako has risen rapidly since Sunday. (Citizen Photo by David Mah)
Meanwhile, both the city and the regional district opened emergency operations centres and residents along Farrell Street, in the Foreman Flats and Shelley townsite areas were asked to prepare themselves in case an evacuation is required.
As of 2 p.m. Tuesday the water level of the Fraser River at South Fort George stood at 9.3 metres and it was expected to rise to 9.5 metres by Tuesday evening, the province's river forecast centre said. The peak level in June 2007 was 9.86 metres.
"The period of hot weather that produced rapid snowmelt throughout the province is largely over and temperatures have dropped significantly today from their highs over the weekend," centre officials said in a statement. "However, a frontal system moved into the coast and the south and Central Interior overnight, and has brought moderate rainfall amounts to the upper Fraser and Nechako basins -- eight to 15 millimetres over 12 hours -- causing water levels to continue to rise."
The Fraser continued to rise steadily at Red Pass, McBride and Hansard, along with the McGregor and Nechako rivers.
However, the Salmon River's level continued to drop after peaking two Sundays ago, bringing relief to the owners of Rockin's River Resort a short distance from the Salmon River bridge.
"We're almost to the point now where there's no water coming in," said co-owner Horst Schulz. "Now, we've just got to wait until the water disappears from the places we've got to work."
Environment Ministry flood hazard technician Lyle Larsen said the Salmon River is fed by a low-level basin and much of the snow in it has melted.
"But the basins that reach far into the mountains have a lot of snow left and any rain on snow is certainly going to contribute to the rising water levels," he said.
A crew was out Tuesday morning removing gabion diking that had been up along River Road since the ice jam last winter, but that work was quickly stopped.
"We're having to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in short periods of time," said city spokesman Don Schaffer.
Environment Canada’s forecasts were for near-normal temperatures today with scattered rain, followed by warmer weather on Thursday and Friday.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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