Evacuation alert issued for Salmo
By Regional District of Central Kootenay
The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) has issued an evacuation alert for residents and visitors of Salmo, due to the potential danger from rising waters on Erie Creek expected later this week. The alert affects all of Salmo and some outlying areas. Local firefighters will hand-deliver the alert to affected households.
At this time residents or visitors within the area are not required to evacuate. However, the RDCK advises people to remain vigilant and be prepared to leave the area at short notice. This alert may be followed by an immediate evacuation order should conditions worsen.
“We have concerns that the Salmo dike on Erie Creek could potentially flood over the top or fail, and we are issuing this alert to ensure residents and visitors in the area are prepared to evacuate if required,” said Andrew Bellerby, the RDCK Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Director. “Engineers are assessing the dike so we should know more about the situation soon. We are already in the process of mitigation work, and we have ordered extra sandbags for homeowners who need them.”
Residents wishing to protect their properties from potential flooding can access sandbags and sand on the Salmo Village lot at 111 Main Street. There is a limited supply of sandbags so residents are asked to please take only what they need.
Residents with livestock or pets are urged to take this time to prepare their animals for potential evacuation. Residents or visitors who are not physically able to evacuate themselves should contact the EOC at 250-352-7701 so they can get assistance if an evacuation order is issued.
The RDCK will use its Emergency Notification System to issue evacuation orders if needed, in addition to hand-delivering alerts and advising the media. Residents who still need to sign up can do so by going to www.rdck.ca and select “Emergency Alerts” from the home page, or go to the alert system sign-up page at https://rdckemergency.connectrocket.com.
For information about emergency preparedness for floods (including sandbagging) and evacuations, please visit www.rdck.ca/befloodprepared or the PreparedBC website.
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