Heavy rain in addition to already rising spring runoff prompts RDEK to sent flood response unit to Fairmont
By Steve Hubrecht
[email protected]
The Fairmont Hot Springs area is under a flood watch.
The watch was issued by the B.C. River Forecast Centre on Sunday, June 12 for all areas of the East Kootenay prone to flooding, as several days straight of heavy, prolonged rain loomed in the weather forecast.
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) issued a press release shortly thereafter, aimed at resident specific parts of the East Kootenay — particularly Fairmont Hot Springs, which was the site of flooding and or debris flows (and related evacuation orders and evacuation alerts) in late spring or early summer in 2021, 2020, 2013 and 2012.
“While we are encouraging residents across the East Kootenay, particularly those with flood-prone properties or those situated near waterways, to use extreme caution and take steps to prepare now in the event of flooding, there are a few key areas that could be susceptible to debris floods or flows if the forecasted rain materializes,” said RDEK Regional Information Officer Loree Duczek. “Fairmont Creek and Cold Spring Creek, which run through the community of Fairmont are both steep creek waterways that are more prone to debris floods during heavy rainfall events.”
The heavy rain comes just as local rivers, lakes and waterways have already begun to swell with the spring freshet (also called spring runoff). Earlier this week, as the Pioneer went to press, the 72-hour forecast called for up to 50 millimetres of rain in Fairmont.
The RDEK urged local residents to stay away from creeks, to exercise caution. It deployed one of its flood response units to Fairmont on Monday, Jun. 13, to be on hand monitoring conditions.
“However, with debris floods or flows, things can change quickly and with very little warning,” said Duczek, imploring local residents (especially those in flood-prone areas) to sign up for the RDEK’s Evacuation Notification System if they have not already done so.
“Once people are signed up, they will be directly alerted in the event of evacuation orders or alerts affecting their registered property. It’s a free system, is available for municipalities, First Nations and rural areas of the RDEK and is easy to sign up for,” added Duczek. “While we all hope the heavy rain doesn’t lead to flooding, being prepared, avoiding taking preventable risks and maintaining awareness make a big difference if it does.”
Columbia Lake Stewardship Society board member and Fairmont resident Bill Thompson, who also happens to be a retired meteorologist, told the Pioneer that residents ought to heed the RDEK’s call for caution.
“We are starting to get into a potentially dangerous situation,” said Thompson. “Water levels are already high from the snowpack melt. If we get heavy rainfall on melting snow, it can increase the runoff.”
Thompson noted that it is tricky to gauge the exact snowpack conditions in the Upper Columbia Valley.
This difficulty is because there is only one truly high elevation spot at which in the snowpack is reliably measured, which is at the top of Panorama Mountain Resort, and that “they stop measuring when the ski season is over.”
In June 2021, following a one-in-25 year prolonged heavy rainfall, four separate flooding-related evacuation alerts or orders were issued, at various times (and at one a point a local state of emergency declared) for properties near Fairmont Creek, Cold Spring Creek, the Hoodoos Resort and Spruce Grove Campground, all in the Fairmont Hot Springs-Dutch Creek area. In late May 2020 flooding resulted in a state of emergency declared along a part of Fairmont Creek, with RCMP assisting in evacuating residents, and a natural debris flow left boulders scattered across the Fairmont Creekside golf course. In late June 2013 flooding hammered not just Fairmont Hot Springs, but most of the rest of the Columbia Valley as well and many other parts of western Canada. But it was the massive debris flow-mudslide in mid July 2012 that was perhaps the most dramatic incident of all, when more than 65,000 square metres of rock and mud came pouring down Fairmont Creek in a matter of about 20 minutes, causing millions of dollars of damage, ripping out roads, destroying bridges, completely burying a local hiking trail, leaving natural debris all over the golf course, and temporarily closing down Highway 93/95.
The RDEK will continue to issue updates through its email group, on its website and via social media pages. To report significant flooding, call the 24-hour East Kootenay emergency line at 250-489-9677. For flood preparedness information, visit www.preparedbc.ca.
To read a previous article regarding why the Fairmont area tends to be susceptible to floods, click here.
