With drier conditions Saturday (March 8), there was not much new flooding and run-off activity around the region, with the exception of some sloughing along Highway 93 between Fort Steele and Wasa.

“Earlier today, we received reports of erosion and sloughing in the Bummer’s Flats area near Fort Steele Farms. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Mainroad Contracting have been cleaning up the mud along the highway and will continue monitoring that location. In addition, the ditch has filled and is overflowing on Fort Steele Cemetery Road. The road is open and signs have been posted to alert drivers to the water,” said Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Information Officer Loree Duczek.

“We still have significant pooling of water in and around the Wasa area that has not improved in the past two days. The main challenge for us is that with the area being so flat, there is nowhere for the excess water to go so we are not seeing things dry up as quickly as they are in other parts of the region,” explained Duczek. “There has been some water flowing across a section of Wasa Lake Park Drive as snow melts from the up-hill side of the roadway. With the help of a resident, our Emergency Program personnel have diverted some of that runoff into a culvert that opened today. This has reduced the amount of water on the road, which remains open.”

A 20-person Unit Crew from the Wildfire Management Branch was on site again today at the gravel pit next to the City of Cranbrook Public Works yard on Cobham Avenue filling sandbags. Sandbags are available for anyone in the city or RDEK who needs them. Just a reminder that people should be prepared to load the sandbags into their vehicle as we do not have the resources to assist in this regard.

The weather forecast is calling for rain to move into the East Kootenay tonight, bringing with it five to10mm of rain across much of the region. The heaviest rainfall is expected to be in the Fernie area, which could see more than 20mm of rain by mid day today (March 9).

“We will continue to monitor conditions through the weekend and urge anyone who sees or is experiencing new flooding in the RDEK to call 1-800-663-3456,” adds Duczek. This is a Provincial Emergency line and they will notify the appropriate emergency program personnel.

With rainfall expected and temperatures between eight and 10 degrees above zero for at least the next few days, the RDEK is also reminding people to stay off lakes and away from streams and creeks as ice conditions can be highly unpredictable given the current conditions.

Additional updates will be provided to the local media, on the RDEK Facebook page and to RDEK email groups through the weekend as conditions warrant.

Click on an image to enlarge and to launch self-directed slide show…

Images courtesy Krista Nebloch

RDEK

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