Evacuation orders in the Cariboo are expanding as water in the backed-up Chilcotin River threatens to spill over a landslide site at any moment.
B.C.’s emergency management ministry was expecting water to start moving overnight Sunday, over the top of the massive landslide that is still blocking the river, south of Williams Lake.
Area modelling suggested water from a newly created lake would start moving overtop of the landslide site by early Monday and enter the riverbed below the slide area.
Levels could reach 21 meters at Farwell Canyon and 12 meters where it meets the Fraser River. Meanwhile, officials predict peak flow might hit Lillooet in about 12 hours.
“Expanded evacuation orders relating to the Chilcotin landslide have been issued to include areas around the Fraser River confluence downstream to the Churn Creek Bridge,” Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma wrote on X Sunday.
The ministry says there’s minimal seepage from the site, but that the water level behind the dammed area continues to rise by about 18 centimetres per hour.
On Sunday, the BC River Forecast Centre upgraded an advisory to a flood wraning for the Chilcotin River downstream of the landslide near Farwell Canyon.
A warning for the Chilcotin River upstream of the landslide near Farwell Canyon, and a flood watch for the Fraser River from the Chilcotin River confluence downstream to Hope remain in place.
People are being told to avoid the Chilcotin from Hanceville to the Fraser confluence due to risks of further landslides and flooding.
The province says it is working with local First Nations and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to mitigate potential impacts to spawning salmon and other species.