VANCOUVER - Provincial officials say three northern B.C. rivers will reach flood levels between Sunday and Wednesday as rain combined with warm weather continues to melt record snowpacks.
Allan Chapman of the River Forecast Centre said people could be forced from their homes in Smithers as early as Tuesday.
"We anticipate that the Bulkley River at Smithers will be at or very close to flood level or it may affect some homes as early as Tuesday,'' Chapman said.
Chapman said the Upper Fraser, the Bulkley and the Skeena Rivers will be above local flood stages this week. The Upper Fraser River in the Prince George and Quesnel regions is expected to hit flood level by Sunday or Monday. It could stay there for a week or more.
Flood level flows are expected on the Bulkley River near Smithers by Wednesday or Thursday and on the Skeena River through Terrace by next weekend.
Chapman said the Lower Fraser River could reach levels at the Mission gauge not seen since 1972. Those high flows could happen by June 9.
Local governments have the responsibility for any evacuations as a result of rising waters, but Jim Whyte of the Provincial Emergency Program said regional emergency centres have been activated and will remain in operation until the flood threat ends.
"We're as prepared as we can be as the flood threat materializes in the next few days,'' he said. "Obviously, we're quite concerned about the change in the forecast and the potential for increased flooding in various areas of the province.''
He said local governments have been advised of the increased risk for flooding so they can assess the threat levels to people in their areas.
"If they need assistance with those decisions, they can consult with the provincial regional emergency operations centres for their region,'' Whyte said.
He advised people in areas threatened with flooding to keep in touch with their local governments to find out what to do as water levels rise.
He said officials have gone door-to-door in some areas to advise residents of emergency procedures.
He said the areas most at risk are those around Prince George, Smithers and Kamloops which have not been protected by dikes.
"They're usually isolated, rural areas, generally,'' he said.
Terrace fire chief Petter Weeber said sandbagging work has been ongoing for the past few weeks and a community awareness campaign is continuing.
"We spent the better part of the day sandbagging,'' Weber said Saturday.
He said any evacuations would affect only those people on a very small aea of the city which lies on the Skeena River flood plain.
Whyte said the warm weather is expected to end Monday followed by rain which could persist through the week.
With the threat of flooding becoming more likely as spring progressed, the provincial government committed $33 million for anti -flooding initiatives throughout the province.
Snowpacks in British Columbia run from 83 to 165 per cent of normal, the highest being in the Nechako, Peace, Skeena, Nass and Bulkley regions.
About 3.5 million sandbags have been distributed throughout the province.
As well on Saturday, B.C. started a program for voluntary relocation of thousands of dairy cows from areas where there is risk of flooding in the Lower Mainland.
Bryon Simons of the province's Water Stewardship Division said local authorities have been working on dikes along the Lower Fraser to prevent flooding.
