Officials ponder closing Kamloops parks among ongoing flood precautions

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Kamloops officials are considering closing city parks after the South Thompson River climbed again overnight, one of several rivers to rise in the B.C. Interior as emergency providers keep watch over flood concerns.

Public Works director David Duckworth says a riverside parking lot has already been closed off for public safety, while homeowners in several low-lying areas are being urged to sandbag their properties.

Preparations continue in other B.C. communities from Prince George through the Okanagan and Fraser Valley as melting snowpacks and heavy rains push waterways up.

The River Forecast Centre is expecting another surge of up to 15 centimetres later today or early tomorrow in the Shuswap River at Enderby, along with rises from 20 to 60 cm in Shuswap Lake at Salmon Arm over the next week.

Shuswap emergency co-ordinator Cliff Doherty saysShuswap Lake may crest within about three days, approaching levels last seen in 1999.

Doherty says more than 10,000 sandbags have already been distributed to area residents, among the 700,000 in use for flood purposes around the province. (CHNL, The Canadian Press)