Heavy rains Thursday night caused damage to many areas across the South Okanagan, including causing a large chunk of a road to break away, which severed a water main and left more than 200 homeowners in the Heritage Hills area of Okanagan Falls without water.
A culvert on Sunnybrook Drive, located east of Heritage Boulevard, was overflowing due to the heavy rains, which washed away a large chunk of the road.
Crews from BTN Contracting, FortisBC and Argo Road Maintenance were at the site trying to clean up the damage and restore water services on Friday morning.
The rainstorm also caused problems in areas of Naramata, Kaleden and Willowbrook near Okanagan Falls, said Brandy Maslowski, fire services and emergency services manager with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS).
As a result of the heavy rains, the RDOS has issued a Level 1 emergency response warning meaning three to five members of an emergency response team will be operating out of an Emergency Operations Centre at the RDOS office on Martin Street in Penticton, she said.
“There was flooding on Eastside Road near Penticton, Toy Creek Road in Kaleden, a couple of areas in Naramata and a culvert gave out near Willowbrook up near Green Lake Road in OK Falls,” said Maslowski. “Another culvert on Carr Crescent (near Oliver) had issues and water rose five feet in five hours. I know crews are at Carr Crescent to clean up the mess this morning.”
There were “reports of minor flooding and rockslides across the Okanagan Valley” overnight and early Friday morning, she said.
One couple from Naramata were asked to leave their residence due to flooding concerns.
“It was just a precautionary measure,” she said.
There were no reports of any serious injuries as a result of the heavy rainstorm, she said.
The RDOS will be issuing a press release at 11 a.m. Friday to update residents about where to pick up sandbags and areas to avoid as a result of the rainstorm, said Maslowski.
Firefighting crews from departments in Penticton, Naramata, Kaleden, Okanagan Falls, Summerland and Penticton were called out to calls relating to flooding Thursday evening into Friday morning, she said.
Maslowski said the Ministry of Transportation and their contractor Argo Road Maintenance have been notified of problem areas and crews have been dispatched.
It was nice to see sunny skies across much of the affected areas Friday morning and she’s encouraged the long-term forecast doesn’t call for rain any time soon.
“We’re hoping for a slow melt and no more rain,” she said.
