Thunderstorm watch in effect for B.C. Interior; landslide warning issued

A severe thunderstorm watch across B.C.'s southern Interior has prompted the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) to extend a landslide warning in parts of the Similkameen Valley already vulnerable due to past wildfires.
Environment Canada issued a thunderstorm watch on Sunday for the Okanagan, Shuswap and West Kootenay regions, including Kelowna, warning of possible hail, flash flooding and strong wind gusts.
In response, the LSIB has extended its slope monitoring system warning for the Ashnola and Chopaka areas until 1 a.m. PT on June 26. The original alert was set to expire Sunday.
"We've had a slope monitoring program in effect here for a couple of months now," said Justin Smith, communications co-ordinator and emergency response manager for the band.
"Because of the number of recent fires within the Similkameen Valley and further west and north, we initiated this process."
The warning system, launched in partnership with Westrek Geotechnical Services, includes a static weather station set up on Keremeos Mountain in early April to provide real-time slope monitoring for the surrounding areas.
Smith says much of the landscape is still recovering from wildfires like the Snowy Mountain blaze in 2018, which left behind severe burn scars and damaged root systems, weakening the structural integrity of the soil.
"Some of the soil has been literally cooked to where it will not support life," he said. "Without the root systems of trees and native grasses, it causes the slope to lose strength.
"When you get 10 to 20 millimetres of precipitation over a short period, it can overwhelm that base and cause debris flows, or even a mudslide."
Though most of the Ashnola area is uninhabited, Smith says one LSIB village sits right at the confluence of the Similkameen and Ashnola rivers, making continuous monitoring essential.
"The Snowy Mountain fire burned significantly into that area. We later saw banks collapsing and flooding that caused serious infrastructure damage in Chopaka," he said.
He says it's not a question of if another slide will happen, but when.
"We want people ... to be safely looked after, or at least have a warning about it."
In its bulletin, Environment Canada warned that conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain.
The agency also cautioned that heavy rain can cause flash flooding and significant reductions to visibility, while strong wind gusts can damage trees, buildings and overturn vehicles.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CNN

an hour ago

• CNN

6 reported dead and 2 missing after a boat capsizes on Lake Tahoe in California

FacebookTweetLink Follow Six people were confirmed dead and two others were missing after a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe in California during a powerful weekend thunderstorm that whipped up high waves, officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responded Saturday afternoon to D.L. Bliss State Park following reports of 10 people in the water, officials said. Two people were rescued and taken to a hospital. Winds of about 30 knots and swells of up to 8 feet were reported around the time the 27-foot gold Chris-Craft vessel flipped over near the lake's southwest edge, Coast Guard officials said. Rescue workers and divers searched the area Saturday evening and resumed their search Sunday morning before the Coast Guard suspended its search. Video obtained by KCRA-TV showed moored boats at a nearby marina crashing into one another amid strong gusts. The extent of the damage wasn't immediately known Sunday.

Yahoo

2 hours ago

• Yahoo

Rescuers saw, paddle their way to badly hurt boy in Algonquin Park

Rescuers chopped, paddled and eventually flew their way into a remote corner of Algonquin Park on the weekend to reach a 13-year-old boy who was seriously injured when a tree fell on his tent, according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). OPP described the rescue Sunday night on social media. They said a mother and son were camping on North Depot Lake in the sprawling park west of Ottawa when a tree fell on their tent during a strong overnight thunderstorm Saturday. Police said the boy was very seriously injured in the incident, but didn't provide more details about his condition. His mother sent out a call for help on one of her devices, relaying their location about 25 kilometres from the park entrance where rescuers gathered. They couldn't reach the boy by air because of the bad weather, so rescuers used hand saws to clear a roughly 25-kilometre path through downed trees and other debris until firefighters from Deep River arrived with chainsaws to help get ATVs through. The team eventually reached water and rescuers were able to paddle a canoe the final 300 metres to the injured teen, and started giving first aid. By 8:30 a.m. Sunday, a Ministry of Natural Resources float plane was able to touch down on the lake and airlift the boy to hospital for treatment. The team on the ground included police from the Upper Ottawa Valley detachment, Renfrew County paramedics and park rangers, with other logistical support. The rescue scene is about 60 kilometres west of Deep River, 95 kilometres southeast of North Bay and 215 kilometres northwest of downtown Ottawa.

New York Times

5 hours ago

• New York Times

Villages Evacuated on Greek Tourist Island as Wildfires Rage

Firefighters in Greece are battling a series of wildfires on the popular island destination of Chios, where officials declared an emergency and a dozen communities were evacuated over the weekend, according to state media. Three blazes broke out on Chios on Sunday, in the areas of Kofina, Agia Anna and Agios Makarios Vrontadon, the country's Hellenic Fire Service said in a Greek-language statement. It deployed 190 firefighters to battle the fire, and another 170 were expected on the island on Monday. Thirteen helicopters and four firefighting planes were also deployed. Chios is one of the largest islands in the Aegean Sea, where throngs of tourists flock during the summer months, also the height of wildfire season. 'The situation on the island since yesterday has been quite difficult because we constantly have new fronts and resurgences and the climatic conditions are not favorable,' said Giannis Kefalogiannis, the country's Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, in a Greek-language statement on Monday. Wildfires have long been a part of life in Greece, with its hot and dry climate. But local authorities say they have seen an uptick in the both the number and intensity of the blazes in recent years, which many experts attribute to climate change. The authorities in Greece deployed a record number of firefighters this year in anticipation of worsening fire seasons, Mr. Kefalogiannis said in April. In recent years, the country has increased its fire patrols, used thermal imaging drones and earmarked more than 2 billion euros for new fire detection technology in an effort to manage the worsening fire seasons. Extreme heat and high winds over the weekend turned much of Chios into a tinderbox, where fires spread quickly and were difficult to contain, officials told local media. Additional firefighters have been brought to the island by boat, or flown in to help fortify the crews battling the fires, the Greek fire service said. Officials from the Directorate to Investigate Arson Crimes are traveling to the island to investigate the cause of the blaze, the Hellenic Fire Service said. The three separate fires broke out at one-hour intervals.