RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times

The Town of Osoyoos issued new evacuation alerts Thursday to 23 properties in three areas of town due to the threat of flooding.

One of those properties is Luna Rosa, a gated community on Cottonwood Drive, and the alert covers multiple units.

Another, at 6811 Cottonwood, also includes multiple units.

There are several properties at Crab Apple Court and on Lakeshore Drive, and the remaining 15 are on Spartan Drive all in the Lacey Point area.

An evacuation alert is an advisory to let people know they need to prepare for a possible evacuation order.

As of Thursday afternoon, the level of Osoyoos Lake has been around 916.30 feet above sea level. That’s an increase of nearly three inches from the past week’s low of 916.06 on Monday and Tuesday, but it’s still nearly two inches lower than the 916.45 feet reached on Saturday.

There is currently a special weather statement in effect from Environment Canada warning that showers and thundershowers over the next few days could impact areas already affected by flooding.

Temperatures, however, are lower than what was predicted at the start of the week when there were concerns about increased snowmelt.

Meanwhile, there has been a gradually increasing discharge through the week on the Similkameen River, which is a predictor of Osoyoos Lake level increases.

As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the Similkameen discharge is 29,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured in Nighthawk, Washington for the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Similkameen peaked at 32,300 cfs on Thursday, May 10 – two days before the lake level reached last week’s high. The Similkameen dropped to 22,800 cfs on Sunday morning before beginning to rise again.

People receiving evacuation alerts are advised to gather all essential items they need and to be ready for a quick departure. They should also arrange to move any disabled persons, children, pets or livestock to a safe area.

Once an evacuation order is issued, residents need to leave the evacuated area immediately and register at the reception centre identified on the order.

For more information, visit the Town of Osoyoos Emergency Preparedness website at http://www.osoyoos.ca/content/emergency-preparedness or follow the link from the town’s main page, osoyoos.ca.