Flood danger waning

Photo: Carmen Weld - Castanet File Photo

Mission Creek

Despite the amount of rain the Central Okanagan has received over the past several days, the threat of widespread flooding is diminishing.

Regional Emergency Program Coordinator, Jason Brolund says, except for the highest elevations, snowpack for the most part has already dissipated.

The real danger during the spring is unseasonably high temperatures causing a faster that normal melt or a combination of melting snow and heavy rains.

Brolund says the freshet season is basically over.

"We saw Mission Creek come up over the weekend due to the rainfall but it didn't reach a point of concern for us," says Brolund.

"I anticipate it running at the slightly elevated level it is for the next 24 to 48 hours based on the rainfall we've had, but it's certainly not at levels of concern."

He says the main concern now is a brief, but heavy, rainstorm.

"What we are watching for now is those 20 to 30 mm plus rainfalls in a short period of time. Those are the ones that will continue to cause problems," says Brolund.

"We are still prone to that and we are really prone to that any time of year."

A similar scenario caused flooding in the Lower mainland Sunday.

While the danger of flooding may be waning Brolund does remind people creeks are still running at slightly elevated levels.

He says people and pets need to stay out of fast moving creeks and stay away from the edge of creeks.