Water levels drop following flooding, mudslides, as rains recede in B.C.

VANCOUVER – The worst may be over after floods and mudslides wreaked havoc in the British Columbia Interior over the weekend.

B.C.'s River Forecast Centre says water levels have been receding throughout western portions of affected areas, including the south and central Okanagan and the Kootenay and Shuswap regions.

The forecast centre is maintaining a flood watch for Salmon Creek and a high streamflow advisory across the province's southeast.

Two people remain missing, including a 76-year-old man whose home north of Salmon Arm was engulfed in a mudslide on Saturday, and a fire chief believed to have been swept away by a swollen waterway west of Kamloops.

Officials with the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations say water levels have dropped but evacuation alerts and orders remain in place throughout the area, as do local states of emergency for Kelowna, West Kelowna and the Fintry Delta.

Rivers and creeks have seen water levels rise in response to heavy rainfall and warm temperatures, which have spurred on the spring snowmelt.