Prince George declares state of emergency due to flooding afternoon, declared, manager, morning, local

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Prince George declares state of emergency due to flooding


PRINCE GEORGE - About 19 homes remain under evacuation orders Monday in Prince George, where a state of local emergency was declared as the Fraser River threatened to spill its banks Sunday afternoon.

About 10 homes on the river side of Farrell Street near Paddlewheel Park in the northern B.C. city were issued the orders Sunday and water has reached the basement level of one home as of Monday morning, said Mike Davis, manager of communications and engagement for the City of Prince George. The remaining nine homes were issued evacuation orders on Monday morning.

Lyle Polsom, who has lived on Farrell Street for 20 years, said he is concerned at how quickly the river is rising.

“It’s rising really quick — looks like about 18 inches in the past 12 hours,” Polsom said, adding that light rain was falling in Prince George on Monday morning.

The Fraser River is still rising, and the crest is expected sometime either Monday or Tuesday, Davis said in an interview Monday. The B.C. River Forecast Centre issued a flood warning for the area, and said water flow in the river is at a level only seen once in 10 years.

An emergency operations centre was set up for residents who were asked to leave their homes, but Davis said some people were choosing not to leave their homes.

Polsom was given an evacuation notice on Monday morning, but he wasn’t ready to leave quite yet.

“There is water in the field, but it’s not that deep yet,” Polsom said. “The worst I’ve seen was in 1995 or ’96 when water was at both ends of the road and it started to meet in the middle.”

Joseph Leblanc, 80, lives at on end of the road where the water has not reached.

He said he doesn’t think the water will affect his home, even though he said the river was running fast and high.

Leblanc has lived on Farrell Road for 20 years, and he said he has only been told to leave once before, about five or six years ago.

“The flood lasted about three days then, but the water didn’t come up to [my place],” he said.

Leblanc said if he had to, he could still get out on the road, which has about eight inches of water on it as of Monday morning, but that it is difficult for him to get around because of his age.

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“I’m 80 years old — I don’t want to move any more than I have to,” Leblanc said.

Davis said the Fraser River floods in the area nearly every year, but he could not recall evacuation orders being issued in the past.

“The high river levels usually come in early June, but with the snowpack and the weather, it has been a pretty unique summer,” Davis said. “The residents in the area are quite familiar with this — they’re prepared for this. And we’ve been prepared and planning for this already. It’s not sneaking up on us.

“Anytime it has the potential to affect someone’s home, it’s a serious matter.”

Davis said they would not expand the evacuation order unless the river crossed over the road. He said an area of Lansdowne Road was also being watched carefully.

The city reminded people to stay well back from river beds and said recreational activities on the river were not recommended.

The water level at South Fort George was 9.61 metres, and rising at a rate of two-to-three centimetres per hour over the day Sunday, the River Forecast Centre said in a bulletin Monday morning.

Near Marguerite, the Fraser has risen three to four centimetres per hour and near Quesnel the waters are still rising. Local flooding may appear, the forecast centre said.

Water takes about 1.5 to two days to flow down the Fraser River from Prince George to the Lower Mainland.

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Flooding on Farrell Street in Prince George as the Fraser River overflows its banks.
Photograph by: Vancouver Sun, Handout



Flooding on Farrell Street in Prince George as the Fraser River overflows its banks.



Flooding on Farrell Street in Prince George as the Fraser River overflows its banks.