It’s crazy, said Cariboo Regional District Chair Margo Wagner as she talked about recent flooding in the Central Cariboo.
“There have been approximately 110 residences impacted since Friday and the numbers continue to climb today,” she told Black Press Media Tuesday.
“Our emergency operations centre is going full tilt and we have a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure liaison officer as of today in the EOC.”
Several ranches are flooded and there have been slides on the road 25 feet west of the Rudy Johnson Bridge, at the Kersley-Dale Landing 500 metres off Highway 97 and on Bayliff Road in the Chilcotin, she said.
Read more: Waterlogged: Williams Lake downright soggy after days of rain
Wagner encouraged anyone with flooding issues to call the public information line at 1-866-759-4977 because the more people that call will be better for the CRD to get people help.
Free sand and bags are available at the Mountview Store, Wildwood Volunteer Fire Dept., Central Cariboo Search and Rescue on Mackenzie Avenue, Red Bluff Fire Hall, 150 Mile House Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Nazko Store and Works Yard.
If anyone arrives to get sand and the supply is low then Wagner said residents should call the public information line to let someone know.
Eaves-troughs should be checked and if a home doesn’t have them then the ground needs to be sloped so the water is not coming back into the basement, she added.
She also urged homeowners that might be impacted by flood water to check their house insurance policies because many cover water damage but not caused by overland or groundwater flooding.
Additionally, she said homeowners who tend to get flooding on their property in the spring should start doing some remediation work now to prepare for next year.
“If we get normal snowpack and we get a normal spring rain it’s not going to be pretty. The ground is so saturated and it is not going to dry off over the winter.”
It would be nice to have a year without floods or fires, she added.
“Whether this is going to be the new normal or not, it’s frustrating.”
Read more: Road opened to single vehicle alternating traffic at Rudy Johnson Bridge
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