Town crews in Princeton are busy this afternoon, Wednesday Dec. 1, hastily reinforcing areas of dike along the Similkameen River, between Home Building Centre and the Subway.
Mayor Spencer Coyne said the river has risen at least four feet in the last few hours, and is creating a concern for the safety of nearby properties.
“The crews, they are trying to dike up the low spots.”
The Tulameen River, which flooded Nov. 14, is also rising fast, said Coyne.
“I think it’s all coming up a little bit quicker than we thought,” he added, referencing weather modelling systems the town has been using to predict events.
While the town has experienced little rain today, Coyne stressed that is not an indicator of the flood threat.
“The weather is above us. Just because it’s not raining here, it doesn’t mean it’s not raining where the water is going to come from.”
Some downtown businesses are closing early, and all residents are being urged to have a go-to bag packed if they need to evacuate.
For the past six days the municipality has worked on rebuilding the Tulameen dike, destroyed in the first flood, and filling and placing sandbags with the help of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Coyne said he plans to address the community, via video on social media, later today.
Follow the Spotlight for more updates.
Related: Highway 3 east of Princeton closes as road floods again
Related: Princeton ‘as ready as it can be’ for the next 24 hours
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com
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