Employees in Grand Forks, B.C., work on a pumping system installed after the community was devastated by flooding in 2018. The B.C. River Forecast Centre says the risk of flooding near Grand Forks has been downgraded from a warning to an advisory. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-City of Grand Forks **MANDATORY CREDIT**
GRAND FORKS, B.C. – The risk of flooding near the British Columbia community of Grand Forks has been downgraded from a warning to an advisory.
After heavy rain and rapid snowmelt, the province’s river forecast centre says water levels in the Boundary Region have peaked, including on the Kettle and Granby rivers running through Grand Forks.
The centre says rivers are expected to recede into the middle of the week but could rise again by next weekend due to more snowmelt at higher elevations.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary became the most active flood zone in the province on Saturday, with officials ordering the evacuation of 40 properties in and around Grand Forks, not far from the Canada-U. S. border.
On Sunday, the district rescinded the evacuation orders for 34 of those properties within the Grand Forks city limits, but also added one more rural property near the city to the evacuation orders list.
A flood warning remains in place for the Lower Thompson Region including Cache Creek, where a state of local emergency was extended to at least May 13.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2023
