Red Cross representatives were visiting with residents of Oakdale Mobile Home Park on Thursday, including Roger Guay (left), two days after a torrential downpour led to flash flooding in the park. The surge of
water caused plenty of damage and led the City of Kamloops to declare a local state of emergency until 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Roto Rooter workers will be at the park on Saturday to re-ignite natural-gas appliances free
of charge.
Dave Eagles/KTW
The rain was coming down hard over the Oakdale mobile home park on Tuesday afternoon when Cheryl McIntyre’s neighbour called and told her to look at what was happening down the road.
From the front of her home, McIntyre could look right down the street to where water was flooding over Westsyde Road, down the cliffside and onto neighbouring homes in a muddy waterfall.
“It came right straight down and there was no stopping it,” she recalled yesterday.
A few homes down, Roger Guay walked down his front steps into waist-deep water.
“I went out and people’s boats were floating in the yard,” he said.
Soon after, both were being shuttled out of the park with whatever they could gather in 15 minutes as the city declared a state of local emergency and evacuated the area.
Though that evacuation order was rolled back Wednesday night, many residents were coming back for the first time yesterday morning to a neighbourhood awash in mud.
While the damage is localized — a few streets up, only a little dust on the road suggests some event might have occurred and residents mowed their lawns and rode bikes as usual — it’s dramatic.
Piles of mud scraped off the road stand knee-high some spots, while timber on a retaining wall closest to Westsyde Road was ripped clear of their positions.
FRIDAY MEETING AT ISC
In response to the June 30 storm and damage it caused, the province has representatives arriving from disaster financial assistance (DFA) to speak to the affected residents of Kamloops.
Only affected residents are invited to attend a public information meeting on Friday at 11 a.m. in Interior Savings Centre’s Parkside Lounge.
DFA representatives will answer questions on disaster financial assistance, including how to apply.
Out of respect for the confidentiality of the residents, this meeting is limited to the residents of Parkview Drive, Irving Place, Rhonmore Crescent, Oakdale Mobile Home Park, Oak Hills Boulevard and the 2400-block of Westsyde Road.
More information can be found on the DFA website at www.embc.gov.bc.ca/em/dfa_claims/dfa.html. Hard copies of the application form are also available at city hall.
Emergency Social Services staff will be on site to process applications for extensions to emergency social services, including hotel accommodation and food vouchers. Extensions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
McIntyre said she’s in good shape — the mud didn’t reach her backyard and, unlike some, her electricity is working.
Speaking with Red Cross volunteers in the neighbourhood on behalf of the city, McIntyre said she’s more concerned about an elderly neighbour whose power was still out.
(City CAO David Trawin said BC Hydro was hoping to reconnect all homes by the end of yesterday, but was waiting for wiring to dry out in some units before doing so.)
Guay said other than a muddy interior, he’s faring pretty well, with no structural damage. Other residents reported similar circumstances, though at least one trailer did appear to have been shifted on its foundation.
While the city is still investigating the causes of the flooding, Trawin said it appears some combination of the intensity of the rain and the debris swept along by water rushing downslope overwhelmed Kamloops’ stormwater system.
“The two ravines in that area catch a large amount of water. If you look at city mapping, those ravines go well up into Lac du Bois, so when that area got hit a lot of water channels through those ravines,” Trawin said.
Water swept down ravines above Westsyde Road and across Parkview Drive, carving a channel as it went and punching through at least one homeowner’s fence.
The city was still assessing how much damage the flooding caused and what repairs it will need to make to its drainage channels and areas hit by erosion.
Trawin said re-establishing its overland drainage routes will be among the first priorities, along with a temporary solution to erosion damage along the eastern sidewalk on Westsyde Road.
“There’s significant erosion in the right of way right to the edge of the sidewalk on Westsyde Road, which ends in a 10 or 15 foot drop now,” Trawin said. While the city doesn’t think the road is compromised, it will need both a quick and longer-term fix for the issue.
The city helped pump water out of Oakdale on the day of the flooding, but Trawin said it’s now up to property owners to continue cleaning up from the flooding.
Oakdale residents may be eligible for disaster financial assistance from the provincial government if insurance doesn’t cover their losses, which can be the case with overland flooding.
Application forms and eligibility information are available online at embc.gov.bc.ca/em/dfa_claims/dfa.html or by calling 1-888-257-4777.
Westsyde wasn’t the only area of the city to see debris and erosion, Trawin said.
Barnhartvale roads also took a hit during the downpour, though without the flash flooding.
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