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Flood 2018: What comes next

Most evacuation orders have been rescinded, and residents are starting to return home
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Kevin McKinnon, deputy fire chief and Emergency Operations Centre information officer, answered questions about rapid damage assessments downtown on Saturday afternoon. Nearly 50 volunteers have been trained in giving assessments. (Kathleen Saylors/Grand Forks Gazette)

After a devastating week of flooding in the Boundary, the water has now receded and Regional District of Kootenay Boundary officials are planning for what comes next.

Despite forecasts that initially predicted a second wave of flooding that could exceed those levels seen on May 10 and 11, the peak seen on Saturday was lower and caused less damage that anticipated because a “perfect storm” of warm temperatures and lots of rain failed to materialize.

As of Tuesday, the majority of evacuation orders in the Boundary had been downgraded to alerts and residents are allowed back home, as long as they are still prepared to leave again if the flood threat grows.

Rapid Damage Assessments

Kevin McKinnon, Grand Forks Fire/Rescue Deputy Fire Chief, said Saturday just shy of 50 people had been trained in the last several days to tackle assessments on more than 1,400 homes and businesses damaged in the flood.

“The assessors all have three different coloured placards: green, no restrictions to get back in; yellow, restricted use and then [red], unsafe, we don’t believe people should be going in until it’s been properly inspected,” said McKinnon.

The assessment teams are typically made up of building inspectors, firefighters or just anyone with a bit of building structure know-how. The teams try to determine if the damage is structural, or something as easily fixed as a water-logged electrical box, White added.

Bill White, who led five teams of rapid damage assessors for BC Housing before retiring two years ago, came up from Vancouver to help in Grand Forks.

“Generally, what we want them to do is go around the building and take a look at each side of the building. If they’re able to get in, then they go in an take a look at the contents and that gives them more information,” said White.

Structural damage results in a red placard, White noted, and serious concerns about the building’s ability to stay standing.

“There’s two main areas of concern. It might be a slope stability problem if they’re down near the river. If it’s damage to the building, it’s a structural problem and we’d ask for follow up with a structural engineer or a geotechnical engineer.”

Emergency Operations Centre director Chris Marsh said Monday the bulk of assessments have been green, allowing them to rescind evacuation orders and downgrade to alerts.

Canadian Armed Forces

After request from local government politicians as well as a formalized request from the Emergency Operations Centre, the Canadian Armed Forces arrived in Grand Forks on Friday morning and were in the Boundary for 48 hours to assist in sandbagging and other flood preparation activities.

The Boundary received over 100 members, who camped in Dick Bartlett Park.

Capt. Chris Hanson, who led the Edmonton-based troops, said his soldiers were happy to help their fellow Canadians in their time of need.

“The majority of this unit has been deployed to natural disasters before, either in B.C. or the flooding in Manitoba or across Canada,” said Hanson.

“So they have skills from fighting fires to first aid to driving armoured vehicles, it’s a very diverse set of skills we bring to the table.”

Marsh said the members helped with physical tasks like sandbagging and reinforcing dikes, as well as using their vehicles to access infrastructure that had previously been inaccessible due to flood waters.

RDKB chair and Area D director Roly Russell said Sunday that while the forces had been re-assigned to other locations, their presence offered a few days of rest to the many volunteers.

“There is the psychological impact of having that capacity on the ground,” he said.

Now, BC Wildfire crews will be in the area as the RDKB shifts into recovery mode. Crews of 20 or more were dismantling sandbags in the downtown area on Monday and are expected to be in the area over the coming weeks.

The downtown core

David Reid, EOC operations chief, said crews are in the process of returning the downtown core to normal with the aim of getting businesses up and running as soon as possible. The sand is being dumped from sandbags, he said, and the burlap bags are being composted.

The sand will be stored for another potential second use, though there are no indications as to what that might be yet. Much of the sand has not touched contaminated water, but some of it has and that can be problematic.

However, officials are asking residents to leave sandbags in place until the threat has completely passed. Marsh said that another bout of warm weather this week could mean a rise in river levels again.

Re-entry and return home

The next step in the flood recovery process is setting up a resiliency centre; Marsh said the location has not yet been determined but it will act as a “central location” for residents to get information and support in the months ahead.

The RDKB will also be hiring a recovery coordinator in near future, whose job it will be to oversee recovery and the various issues that will arise.

The Canadian Red Cross, which has been active in the area since last Wednesday, closed its group lodging facility on Saturday night. Information officer Frances Maika confirmed there had been a couple instances of individuals “taking advantage” of the facilities, but stressed that was not the reason for the closure.

Over the previous three days the number of individuals using the lodging at the arena had dwindled from over 60 to none, she said; people had found lodging elsewhere and many evacuation orders were being rescinded.

“It’s the next step in the recovery process,” Maika said.

The Red Cross is still actively in the area operating reception services, and Liam Devine, Red Cross disaster management coordinator, said on Monday that clean-up kits were available at the curling club for evacuees now able to re-enter their homes. The kits include brooms, mops, gloves, masks, bleach and other necessities. Those re-entering homes were encouraged to check in with the Red Cross if they hadn’t done so already and pick up a cleaning kit.

Residents of North Ruckle had their evacuation orders rescinded late Tuesday evening; in those areas, officials are concerned about contamination from sewage and other hazardous materials. Some of the homes in the neighbourhood received a “red” damage assessment.

Evacuation orders rescinded

By the end of day Sunday, RDKB officials had rescinded the majority of evacuation orders in the Boundary, including those for South Ruckle.

As of an RDKB bulletin on Tuesday night, the RDKB reports 12 outstanding evacuation orders due to river bank sloughing or slope instability. All properties formerly on order are now on alert.

Marsh noted that properties were still on alert because the hot weather in the next week could mean more high water in the forecasts.

But, the “perfect storm” forecasted to hit the Boundary with a second peak never materialized.

“The best information said we were going to get hammered a second time and we were very lucky that didn’t happen,” regional fire chief Dan Derby said. He added that officials prefer to err on the side of cautious, which is why sandbags were still being filled late last week and orders were still in place over the weekend.

River levels hit an all-time high of 22.6 feet (6.9 metres) at the ferry gauge south of Midway this week, Derby said, but had dropped to 18 feet (5.5 metres) by Sunday afternoon.

In a normal year, Derby added, 18 feet would be considered just half a foot below a minor flood and be cause for concern.

“We’re cheering about a river level that in a different year would [make us] very worried,” he said.

-With files from Katya Slepian