Residents across B.C. Interior brace for another deluge of flooding
VICTORIA — Unseasonable heat and the potential for rain over the next seven to 10 days could force thousands of people in British Columbia’s Interior to evacuate their homes as rivers and lakes continue to swell and burst from the melting snowpack, officials said Monday.
David Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said many parts of the province have been hit with temperatures six degrees above average for the past three weeks, which has accelerated the melt for the lowest lying snowpacks in the Interior but will shift to mid and upper elevations.
“That’s creating a transition in terms of the rivers that are susceptible and at most risk,” Campbell said during a conference call.
“Clearly this is an extremely intense weather system in terms of the temperatures, and certainly coming at a time in the season where rivers are already flowing very high.”