We at the Tribune have been taking a front row seat as the Cariboo experiences massive flooding. We visited the river valley with the City’s director of municipal services Friday to see first hand the road washout there.
Last week we toured the 150 Mile Area where a property was completely surrounded by water on Pigeon Road, saw equipment shoring up the banks of Borland Creek behind Marshall’s Store and travelled on a temporary road that was installed behind Chemo RV through the 150 Mile Ranch for residents.
Williams Lake Indian Band saw Borland Creek veer drastically from its original flow, washing out Mission Creek Road and threatening the community’s water treatment plant.
As Borland Creek, the San Jose River and its tributaries all flow to Williams Lake, the level of the lake rose almost four feet in less than 48 hours.
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Dozens of residents accessed sandbags by the 100s the City provided as a precaution a few days before.
Things got personal for our City on Thursday when the level of the Williams Lake creek began to rage toward what would become a one-in-two hundred year flow in the river valley.
Worse fears were realized on Monday morning when a sewer line ruptured. The Province has come to the City’s aid financially as the push is on to stop raw sewage from entering the Fraser River.
Residents have been using as little water as possible to help slow down the flow.
Contractors are working around the clock to try and build a new access road into the river valley.
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During an aerial tour of the site Tuesday we could see multiple excavators, rock trucks, even workers on ATV in the area.
Our region came together during the 2017 wildfires, and once again this emergency is seeing many people working together in what our local MOTI manager Todd Hubner said is a dynamic and fluid time.
- Williams Lake Tribune
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