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While dozens of property owners remain on evacuation order due to flooding on Osoyoos Lake, it appears the worst is over in the small South Okanagan town as lake levels continue to drop and efforts are underway to get people back into their homes.
During a presentation to Town of Osyooos council Tuesday afternoon, Janette Van Vianen, the town’s director of corporate services and senior staff member who has been working in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen’s (RDOS) Emergency Operations Centre, said the lake levels on Osoyoos Lake have dropped almost one foot in the past few days.
The water levels were recorded at 915.45 feet above sea level on Tuesday, compared to the peak level of 916.41 feet recorded on May 11, said Van Vianen.
Residents are being warned the lake levels might increase slightly in the coming days as hot weather has returned and there is still melting snow entering the Osoyoos Lake watershed, she said.
A total of 54 properties remain under evacuation order, along with another 47 in the Paradise Park RV Resort, for a total of 101 properties, she said.
Another 61 properties remain under evacuation alert.
The town is hoping to get residents from 16 properties on Solana Key Court and another two on Harbour Key Drive back into their homes before the end of this week, said Van Vianen.
For the other property owners who remain under evacuation order, the town is asking that they be patient as works crew from the town and FortisBC have to declare the homes safe before anyone will be allowed to return home, she said.
Assessment of areas that remain under evacuation order continues and the goal is to get people back into their homes as quickly as possible once it has been deemed safe to do so, she said.
FortisBC has crew members assessing damage and they are solely responsible for determining when electricity and natural gas can be turned back on in residences, she said.
Rapid assessment crews from the town are also assessing damage and all of them will be carrying credentials, so residents are asked to not allow anyone without credentials into their homes, she said.
Van Vianen said she has been working regularly out of the EOC in Penticton and she’s thankful for all of the hard work officials there have been doing over the past several weeks as areas across the regional district have been dealing with their own flooding issues.
Mayor Sue McKortoff thanked Van Vianen for all of her hard work and keeping town leaders and residents informed about the flooding concerns in Osoyoos.
“Thanks for keeping us in the know,” she said.
She also thanked all those working in the EOC for doing a great job.