Summerland crews remove sandbags

Summerland crews remove sandbags

Creek flooding danger now over, but Okanagan Lake level remains high

Now that the spring flooding has subsided, homeowners and municipal crews are beginning the process of removing sandbags and gabion baskets from around Summerland.

But Linda Tynan, chief administrative officer for the municipality said the sandbags should remain in place at Okanagan Lake a little longer.

“We need to remember that the lake is still higher than full pool,” she said. “If there was a big storm, there could still be damage to some properties.”

Along the creeks, the flooding has subsided and creekside property owners are taking down their sandbags.

The sandbags can be dumped at bins which will be set up around the community.

This year, a total of 32,000 sandbags and 850 metres of gabion baskets were set up in the community to control rising flood levels.

By comparison, 191,000 sandbags were set up along the lakefront last year during spring flooding.

While there was some water on the lakefront walking path in Lowertown this year, the flooding was far less severe than last year, when much of the path was under water and concrete eroded from the flood water damages.

Summerland Review