Courtenay Mayor Greg Phelps declared a weather-related state of emergency and an evacuation alert was ordered for Cumberland residents living near Comox Lake this afternoon as torrential rains seriously impact the Comox Valley. The RCMP is advising limited or no traffic into Courtenay and schools were closed early today as well. The Fifth Street Bridge remains closed and the 17th Street Bridge is one lane into Comox only.
In Cumberland, a culvert under the Perseverance Creek bridge has been compromised because of the weather and traffic is down to one lane.
The flooding along the Old Island Highway near Lewis Park is getting the most notice right now. But, there are other neighbourhoods in the region that are dealing with high waters and flooding.
Environment Canada is forecasting 15-25mm overnight with rain continuing tomorrow with as much 50mm falling on Tuesday.This is paired with a wind warning, as winds up to 70 km/h are projected overnight.
Rain will continue throughout the week, changing to snow on Saturday.
As news comes in to us, we will post it here this evening.
Courtenay resident Melanie Perkins, who lives near Puntledge Park, sent the following photos in to show the significant flooding of the Puntledge River, Morrison Creek and the area around the park as of 2 p.m.
I was there just after 12pm and the kid’s play area was underwater as well. Good to see that the water had gone down a bit after they reduced the flow from the dam. http://twitpic.com/pt26u
Holy cow Teresa!!! That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
One of the families who have two children attending my kid’s school was left homeless by the flooding. They were living in Maple Pool Campground and not only were they evacuated, the RV and camper where they were living was actually washed away. Hope things went better for the other people living there. Odd….we didn’t hear about that on the news.
Hi Lucinda,
Is there a way we can help this family out?
Lucinda,
We have blankets and some kids clothes that could be spared easily and we’re always happy to whip up a meal – please let us know if we can help these people at all – I can only begin to imagine what that feels like. If they need us, contact me here and I’ll get you my phone number.
Hi All,
I know that Arden school is accepting donations of items for the family. I spoke to the dad, and he said they do have accomodation until the 19th. They are all still in shock and sorting things out as to what might be helpful for them.
If anyone has items they would like to donate, the family has two children, a 10 year old boy and a girl in grade 7. Arden school might be the best place for drop off as I am not sure the family even has a place to put anything.
Thank-you both for your kind responses. Sorry for the lack of detail, but I want to respect the families privacy and not make an already horrible time more uncomfortable for them.
Have a good one.