Tulameen residents are bracing for another flood this weekend.
Warm weather could mean Otter Lake will rise again, flooding houses blocks away as it did in late April.
Expected temperatures in the mid-20s C for this weekend will melt snow packs in the nearby mountains, potentially causing a rush of water to enter the lake.
“Tulameen is still in a wait-and-see mode. We anticipate with the warm weather coming that the water will rise again, but we’re not sure to what extent it will be,” said Dale Kronebusch, emergency services supervisor for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
Whether the water will rise more than before is hard to tell, he said.
The last flood was caused by warm weather combined with heavy rain. Rain isn’t expected for this weekend.
More vacation home owners are expected to arrive in Tulameen this weekend to get their houses ready for the May long weekend.
Residents are using the Red Cross cleaning kits that are available.
Eight-one houses out of 174 were damaged in the flood, while two houses were damaged extensively, Kronebusch said.
Otter Lake rose more than three feet in two days, causing an evacuation alert to be issued on April 26.
