'Extremely high' snowpack in some regions of B.C. Interior raises flooding fears

Concerns about flooding in B.C. later this spring have been renewed after the latest report by the B.C. River Forecast Centre showed some areas of the Interior have an "extremely high" snowpack.

A stretch of hot weather in May followed by significant rain could be disastrous in some regions, according to a hydrologist with the provincial agency.

This week the centre released a report detailing the snowpack as of April 1 across B.C.

Three regions are classified as having an "extremely high" snowpack of 135 per cent the normal amount or more: Upper Fraser East and Upper Fraser West — which surround the city of Prince George, B.C. — and the Cariboo Mountains.

A handful of other regions have "high" snow packs (120 per cent normal) including South Thompson, Boundary, Central Coast, Skagit and Northwest basins, according to the report.

Combined with certain weather conditions, the large amount of snow could lead to high water on the scale of the 2018 spring floods, when more than 400 homes in the Kootenay-Boundary Regional District were inundated, the majority of them in Grand Forks, B.C.

"The worst-case scenario is that we have cold temperatures through April and then a sudden heat wave at some point in May for anywhere from seven to 10 days, followed by heavy rainfall," said Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with the B.C. River Forecast Centre.

"It's exactly what happened with Grand Forks and the Kettle River and Granby River [in 2018]." 

Handling evacuations during a pandemic

Municipalities are already preparing for the potential of flooding, and adapting their plans for how to handle evacuations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Central Okanagan Emergency Operations is discussing several ideas in order to help evacuees while maintaining physical distancing.

"When people do come to a reception centre they will be met at the driveway and advised to stay in their car," said Sandra Follack, a program co-ordinator with Central Okanagan Emergency Operations. 

"They will be given a number and they won't come out of their vehicle until their number is called."

The City of Kamloops has been preparing its flood response plan for months, according to utility services manager Greg Wightman.

The city is arranging sandbags and determining which areas need to be protected.

Wightman said one challenge will be practising physical distancing at sandbag-filling stations, where, typically, one person holds a bag while another shovels sand into it.

While preparations are well underway, a high snowpack in in some B.C. regions doesn't necessarily mean there will be flooding, Boyd said.

"It just comes down to weather," he said. "Unfortunately we haven't got the ability to predict weather past about seven days."