Drying out after the deluge

By MICHELE YOUNG

Kamloops residents started taking stock Thursday of the impact from a storm that pounded the city for less than half an hour Wednesday afternoon, but left a broad swath of damage in its wake.

Mayor Peter Milobar said the City’s first priority was to open up the transportation corridors affected by the dump of 25-mm of rain that fell in 25 minutes.

“This is the worst storm anyone I’ve talked to, regardless of how long they’ve lived here, has seen,” he said.

The Tenth Avenue underpass predictably filled with water and trapped at least one truck and one car.

The storm sewer drain there is lower than the pipes that take it away, which is why it usually becomes a problem during a fast and heavy rain, he said.

“Certainly it gets pumped out and cleared really quick. But there’s usually one truck that goes through and gets stuck, or is sitting and waiting for a light and gets stuck,” he said.

The intersection of Summit and Notre Dame Drives disappeared under water and the south end of the Overlanders Bridge was gravelled with rocky debris washed out from a drain that was spewing water onto the road.

While the City can’t prepare for every what-if scenario, it handled the sudden storm well, the mayor said.

The water and sewer systems were not affected by the onslaught of water, Milobar added.

And a second storm that was on the meteorological radar that was forecast to come through missed the city entirely.

“The second cell didn’t actually hit the city. It was potentially even heavier,” he said.

That follow-up storm almost prompted civic officials to set up the emergency operations centre, so all efforts could be better co-ordinated.

When that second storm veered off, it was decided not to set up the centre.

An 18-year-old woman was swept into the South Thompson River and rescued on the Tk’emlups Indian Band side during the midst of the storm, said RCMP Cpl. Cheryl Bush.

Early reports said a boy was in the water, but it was actually a young woman, she said.

She got caught by some rushing water in a drainage canal and was pushed down into the river, said Bush.

Two people on the TIB side of the river helped her out and called for help.

RCMP and Kamloops Fire Rescue were ready to launch their boats, but were then advised the woman was on land.

Kelsie Carwithen, spokeswoman for B.C. Emergency Health Services, said police asked for an ambulance to get the woman at 700-block Athabasca Street East, across the river from Pioneer Park.

She was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Bush said other than that one incident, most of the calls police got during the downpour were traffic related.

“It was a lot of mess, a lot of traffic snarls.”

Kamloops Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Mike Adams said an additional ten staff were called in to help out the 25 who were on regular duty.

Most of the calls were related to flooding, other than the woman in the river, he said.

But there were also lightning strikes that felled a tree onto a vacant building on the North Shore, and a hydro pole that caught on fire in Dallas.

Over at the Kamloops SPCA shelter on Eighth Street, water seeped through the roof enough to damage some ceiling tiles and force two cats to be moved out of their kennel into a different area.

Sarah Gerow, animal-care supervisor, said only the one room was affected and just two cats in there had to be relocated. Other cats in the room remain.

“It just came in through one kennel. The two cats were in there. We have had leaks before, but with Kamloops being so dry, it’s not usually an issue,” Gerow said.

Some repair work will have to be done, but she wasn’t sure of the extent of the damage between the roof and the drop ceiling.

The storm caused power outages from Merritt all the way to Revelstoke, knocking out service to about 18,000 B.C. Hydro customers, said spokeswoman Jennifer Walker-Larsen.

At 2 p.m. today (Thursday), all but 4,000 were back on the grid. Everyone was expected to be powered up by 4 p.m. today.

Walker-Larsen said the storm, with its high winds and lightning, knocked down lines and poles and damaged equipment.

She asked anyone who is without power to check B.C. Hydro’s web site to see if it’s noted on the outage page. If not, call the corporation so it’s aware, she said. The number to call is 1-888-769-3766 (1-888-POWERON).