FLOOD WATCH 2017: Drier conditions ease flood threat in B.C., but warm weather could complicate

VANCOUVER – A respite from the rain has helped ease immediate flood concerns in northeastern B.C. and across the southern Interior, but temperatures forecast to top 27 degrees in the Okanagan this weekend may mean the worst is not over.

Regional District officials say recent drier weather stabilized slopes in the Shuswap region near Tappen, and in the Killiney Beach subdivision on the west side of Okanagan Lake.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District says an evacuation order for 11 of 13 properties near Tappen has been lifted, but remains in effect for two homes, including one belonging to 75-year-old Roy Sharp, who vanished May 6 when a mudslide hit.

Evacuation orders have also been lifted for 17 properties along the west side of Okanagan Lake following a minor slide on Saturday, May 13, but the Central Okanagan Regional District says 400 other people across the region are still out of their homes because of flooding.

Okanagan Lake has risen another 2.5 centimetres since Monday, May 15, and the regional district says crews in Kelowna will be deploying flood protection in some of the low lying parts of Kelowna, as much of the heavy snowpack has not melted.

In northeastern B.C., the River Forecast Centre downgraded a flood warning to a flood watch on the Beatton River near Fort St. John, and levels in other waterways through the area were also forecast to continue receding this week.