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Preparations for flooding in the Shuswap accelerate

A sandbagging machine and a crew to run it have been set up in Silver Creek.
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A sandbagging machine and a crew to operate it have been set up at the Silver Creek Fire Hall to help residents prepare their properties as water in the Salmon River and its tributary creeks rise. (CSRD Photo)

As the water rises, efforts to respond to the threat of flooding in the Shuswap ramp up as well.

The Shuswap Emergency program activated their emergency operations centre to respond to the flooding earlier this week. The present concern for the emergency operations team is high water levels in the Salmon River or localized flash flooding of creeks due to the intense rainstorm forecast for the area.

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The emergency operations centre will be staffed through the weekend and one of the actions they have taken ahead of the coming rainstorm is setting up a sandbag filling machine to help Salmon Valley residents protect their properties. Starting on the morning of Saturday May 30, there will be a crew on hand at the Silver Creek Fire Hall using the machine to fill sandbags. Members of the public whose properties are at risk will be able to pick up filled bags on a first-come first-served basis.

Sand and bags will also be available at the fire hall to be filled by hand.

As the level of Shuswap Lake is rising and the Salmon River is not the only stream that is at risk of bursting its banks, sand and bags are available at 19 other locations throughout the Shuswap.

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Residents are asked to respect social distancing recommendations while filling and loading sandbags. In order to assist with social distancing the sand at the bag filling stations has been moved into separate piles.



jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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