Heavy rain across southwest B.C. eased for many areas, but residents in parts of the Squamish and Pemberton regions were still under shelter-in-place and evacuation restrictions.
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Flooding in parts of southwestern British Columbia eased for many areas after drenching rains, but some residents remained under shelter-in-place and evacuation-related orders, including in the Squamish region and in and around Pemberton.
In the Paradise Valley Road area north of Squamish, resident Peter Spitzer said he and neighbours were sheltering in place after river waters swollen by rainfall and releases from a dam cut off access, including with Bailey Bridge now closed.
Spitzer said the flooding had not reached his home, but others in the area were surrounded or had basements flooded, and he said fast-flowing water had made leaving the valley impossible at the time of his comments.
The District of Squamish said in a Thursday statement that the spill level from the Cheakamus Dam at Daisy Lake peaked at approximately 5 a.m. and was expected to decrease slowly during the day to create room in the reservoir for more rain and eventually allow roads to reopen.
B.C. Hydro spokesperson Whitney Deane said forecasters had expected the rate of water flowing into the reservoir to peak at a manageable 235 cubic metres per second by midday Thursday, but that late Wednesday the hydro company issued a flood warning and flows into the reservoir peaked at 735 cubic metres per second around an hour later.
Deane said this “roughly three times the forecast” change happened within a shorter window.
The District of Squamish issued a shelter-in-place decree Thursday morning, and it said the impacts continued even as rains eased for most of the province, including Metro Vancouver.
Environment Canada lowered most rainfall warnings by Thursday, though yellow warnings were still active for west and inland Vancouver Island where heavy rain was forecast to continue into Friday afternoon.
Parts of the storm system brought more than 300 millimetres of rain in 48 hours to parts of southwest B.C., and Environment Canada said several locations recorded more than 100 millimetres in that period, 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 full village of Pemberton, with a population of about 3,400, was under an evacuation alert “out of an abundance of caution,” while the rain also forced other evacuation actions across the region.
DriveBC said Highway 99 east of Pemberton was shut in both directions, and the Lil’wat Nation expanded an evacuation order and alert for the area from Kwetsa7 along the Lillooet River corridor to Lillooet Lake.
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.
On Vancouver Island, the Strathcona Regional District issued a water conservation notice for Sayward after high flows in Newcastle Creek led to extra sediment in the water, and an evacuation order due to flooding and landslide risks remained in place for about 30 properties in Zeballos on northwest Vancouver Island.
Environment Canada said a strong frontal system over the area would weaken and that rain would continue to ease as the front weakened.
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