City prepares for floods

The City of Penticton is jumping into action and erecting a barrier along Okanagan Lake, between the SS Sicamous and the Okanagan River dam.

With the lake up 3.5 centimetres overnight and storms in the forecast, City Manager Peter Weeber says they are working to protect the area against wave action.

“The water levels, if they stayed smooth and calm, we were actually pretty comfortable there. But this corner of the community, around the Sicamous and the dam facility, we are going to protect this evening.”

The city is being helped out by a 20-person B.C. Wildfire Service crew, who are filling sandbags with a new machine on loan from the province. A combination of sandbags and water-filled bladder dams will protect the area.

Weeber said the Penticton Yacht Club has been proactive with its sandbagging and is holding well at the moment. Once the area around the Sicamous is secured, crews will start work around the Lakeside Hotel, armouring the shore against erosion.

The City is also urging that people stay off the Penticton channel, as the Okanagan dam releases water at full capacity.

“Our resources are stretched pretty thin right now, and even if we could get to someone on the channel, they would likely lose their lives before we got to them,” Weeber said, asking that people stay away from potentially unstable channel banks as well.

The SS Sicamous is already floating and appears to be faring well in the water.