Aug 06, 2024 – Isaac Phan Nay/CBC News

One day after water spilled over and breached the landslide blocking the Chilcotin River, officials, First Nations and residents in the B.C. Interior are assessing the damage as the backed-up flow surges down the Fraser River.

In an update Tuesday morning, the province said significant woody debris is flowing downstream along both rivers.

At about 6:45 p.m. PT Monday, the leading edge of the water surge had reached Big Bar on the Fraser River, about 70 kilometres downstream of the Chilcotin-Fraser confluence. There, the flood reached peak flow Tuesday morning.

Connie Chapman, with B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, told reporters at a news conference the released water is expected to cause river levels to rise by more than two metres near Lytton by 3:30 p.m. PT.

Modelling predicts the Fraser River near Hope, around 300 kilometres downstream of the confluence, will rise by nearly a metre by about 2 p.m. Wednesday, she added.

In a live update on Tuesday, Chapman clarified that high river levels will be seen at Hope in the afternoon, but that peak river flows are not expected until around midnight on Tuesday.

“As mentioned yesterday, the risk of a worst-case scenario has drastically decreased, but we are not in the clear yet,” said Bowinn Ma, minister of emergency management and climate readiness, in the Tuesday update.

She urged people to stay off the Chilcotin and Fraser riverbanks.

“Now that the water is flowing past the natural dam, there is a risk of further landslides, both upstream and downstream of the dam,” Ma said, adding that two emergency alerts were issued Monday, advising people in areas at risk of flooding to evacuate immediately.

“We are prepared to issue more alerts, should they be needed, as the situation evolves.”

Read the full article at cbc.ca.