Flooding along the Somass River is expected to worsen overnight Monday and Tuesday, so a state of emergency remains in place for the Tseshaht First Nation, emergency preparedness committee chair Hugh Braker said Monday afternoon.
“The news is very bad,” Braker said after an emergency conference call with Emergency Management BC, Environment Canada, River Forecast Centre and BC Hydro.
The Somass River flow will rise to between 900 and 1000 cubic metres per second and could go as high as 1100 cubic metres per second, “which would put us in 2014 flow levels or more.”
Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for the area, which Braker said has been right on target so far. Although rain eased in town Monday afternoon, Braker said it had been raining heavily in the Beaufort mountains.
“The rainfall in the City of Port Alberni and lower parts of the Valley is expected to be 80 to 120 mm from (Monday night) until Wednesday,” he said. The mountains will see an accumulation of 275 to 300 mm from Sunday to about Wednesday, he added,. All that rain will hit the watersheds for Sproat Lake, Great Central Lake and the Ash River system, which ultimately will affect the Somass River.
“The Somass River is already full. Its capacity to absorb more water is very limited.
“BC Hydro is quite worried,” he said. “There’s another storm coming Friday and another on the weekend bringing even more rain, so it looks like no break for us.”
Braker anticipates Highway 4 at McCoy Lake Road will close due to flooding. “If the flood is as bad as 2014, Pacific Rim Highway will not be kept open once the water crosses the highway,” he said.
Because McCoy Lake Road is currently blocked off due to the bridge over Nook Creek breaking, traffic would have to detour from Faber and Stirling Arm roads to the west and Tsuma-as Drive (Mission Road) to the east, behind the Tseshaht Administration Building.
“The traffic would have to wait and would only be permitted to go with a pilot vehicle,” Braker said.
“The highways department has been grading the logging road behind the landfill in anticipation of this,” he added.
Braker warned that people living past the expected road closure who have medical issues should relocate for the time being. Affected band members can call the Tseshaht office at 250-724-1225 and let their emergency staff know.
Four homes were evacuated last Friday, displacing six families. There are 14 homes along the Somass that could potentially flood, and six more that would be cut off in severe flooding; Braker said more evacuations could be expected.
Island Health has also advised the Tseshaht to monitor its water quality, and issue a boil water advisory if necessary. The Tseshaht have a contract to receive water from the City of Port Alberni’s system.
Within city limits, flooding has been kept to a minimum, city utilities superintendent Brian Mousley said. The new Dry Creek spillway has held up well, and the Third Avenue corridor has not seen the flooding it did in 2014.
“We’re still on high alert but we fared quite well,” Mousley said Monday morning.
“With the heaviest amount of rain we had a bit of spot flooding on Fourth (Avenue) and Burde (Street),” he said, as well as the intersection of Compton, Indian and Grandview.
“There is an issue with the drain that runs into the Somass Mill property (lower Dunbar and Harbour Road). We’re working with Somass to get that fixed,” he said.
A tree fell into Dry Creek just east of the new footbridge, but Mousley said the city won’t be able to remove it until they get a break in the storm—possibly Wednesday.
