Cache Creek evacuees want to return home this weekend, but warm spell may dash their hopes

Anie Cruz Campbell operates a pizza restaurant and lives in a mobile home located at 1206 Highway 97 in Cache Creek, B.C. Unfortunately, the area was placed under an evacuation order last Wednesday due to flooding.

Now staying temporarily with her family in 16 Mile, north of Cache Creek, Campbell says she's worried she may not be allowed to reopen her business by this weekend.

"My property [is] on the side that's really damaged, so I don't know if they will let me open my business," she explained. "As a small business owner, we need to open. I have no income coming in, and I'm paying some bills, so I don't know how or what will happen if they will not let me open."

Campbell is among approximately 300 residents in Cache Creek — a town with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants situated about 72 kilometres west of Kamloops — who have been displaced by the rising waters of the Bonaparte River. The first evacuation order was issued on April 30.

The town is currently under a flood warning issued by the B.C. River Forecast Centre and a state of local emergency has been extended until May 13.

Under the B.C. River Forecast Centre's three-tiered warning system, a flood warning means flooding is imminent or already underway. A flood watch means river levels are rising, and flooding might occur.

Last week, the flooding reached Cache Creek's firehall, causing damage to multiple homes and businesses. Highways 1 and 97 were also temporarily closed due to the rising waters.

As of Thursday, 300 people from 128 homes had been forced out, according to Wendy Coomber with the Cache Creek Emergency Operations Centre.

"The good news is that the evacuated properties are still mostly dry. The river levels are holding steady and actually they are showing a slight decline," she said. "But we have that hot weather forecasted for the weekend."

Provincial emergency officials noted that the amount of rain received in the southern Interior over the past weekend was less than expected, which provided a temporary stabilization of the flood risk. However, forecasters warn that the warm weather will likely accelerate snowmelt and pose further threats.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, temperatures in Cache Creek are expected to steadily rise throughout the week, reaching 29 C on Saturday and 34 C on Sunday.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre predicts that this warm spell will raise the freezing level, leading to the melting of mountain snowpacks and resulting in swollen waterways.

Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta describes the flooding in the town as the worst he has witnessed in 50 years, and he anticipates additional evacuation orders in the coming days as the rising temperatures affect the snowpack.

"The Bonaparte River was flowing at a 100-year level yesterday, and there is still an awful lot of snow up in the hills, and we are expecting 34-degree temperatures over the next couple of days," Ranta said on Wednesday.