UPDATE: The B.C. River Forecast Centre has ended the flood watch for the Nanaimo River and Englishman River and has ended the high streamflow advisories for other areas of Vancouver Island.
PREVIOUSLY POSTED: Residents of areas along the Nanaimo River and Englishman River are advised that a flood watch is in effect.
Emergency Info B.C. is sharing a warning from the River Forecast Centre, noting that high streamflow advisories have now been upgraded to a flood watch for the east coast of Vancouver Island including the Nanaimo River, Englishman River and surrounding tributaries. A flood watch is an intermediate-level advisory between a high streamflow advisory and a flood warning.
The Regional District of Nanaimo has issued evacuation alerts to two addresses, one on Wilkinson Road in Cedar and one on Martindale Road in Parksville.
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Flooding at Martindale Road in Parksville. Arrowsmith Search and Rescue are on stand-by to provide assistance in case of emergency as the road is not passale at the moment! @ParksvilleNews pic.twitter.com/Ll7IYJYw79
— michael briones (@MikeBrionesJr) January 2, 2021
Martindale Road CLOSED due to flooding in #Parksville between #BCHwy19A and Levirs Road. Assessment in progress. Detour not available. Next update time Sat Jan 2 at 8PM PST. #VanIsle
For more information: https://t.co/FoyD4qubjN— DriveBC VI (@DriveBC_VI) January 3, 2021
The River Forecast Centre notes that the end of 2020 and the start of 2021 are “an active period for storm systems on Vancouver Island and the south coast,” and noting that as of Saturday afternoon, upwards of 90 millimetres of rain had fallen in Bowser over the previous 24-hour span.
“Rivers are responding to this rainfall, with rapid rises being observed through Saturday morning,” the centre notes, adding that the rivers are forecast to reach their highest flows late Saturday or overnight Sunday.
The centre advises residents to stay clear of fast-flowing rivers and potentially unstable riverbanks.
“With all the rain over the last couple days in Nanaimo, the streams are high and moving fast. Avoid and stay away from fast-moving streams,” posted the City of Nanaimo on social media.
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