Prince George, B.C. – Highway crews and maintenance  contractors  are already   on the job  trying to make repairs   in the wake of this  week’s flooding throughout the  Peace region,  but the Ministry of Transportation  says it will take  a number of days before  all  roads will be  fully open.

Highway 97 remains  closed  through the Pine Pass.    Two adults and an eleven week old  baby,  were stranded in  a vehicle  on  Highway 97  when the road gave way at Commotion Creek.   There were concerns for the baby’s nutritional  needs as  the infant  needed goat’s milk.   The family was  helicoptered to Chetwynd  where other family members met them and took  them  home.

There are five seriously  damaged sites along 97 through the Pine Pass. Damage is still being assessed. “We  are hopeful of  being in at least a single lane ( alternating traffic) within the next week” says Maria Botts, District Manager for the Ministry of Transportation in the Peace region.   Travel  through Alberta is encouraged.

Highway 29, remains closed in both directions 13 km south of Junction with Highway 97 North in Chetwynd because of  a wash out. DriveBC  advises  travellers to avoid the area, and  use the  detour that will  take motorists through Alberta.

In the community of Chetwynd, Nicholson Road  has been “lost”,   and there are issues with the  sewer lines. “It’s not good ” says  Leo  Sabulsky the Emergency Coordinator for Chetwynd,  who says the pumps have pushed  a great deal of gravel  and sand   in the system.   “We’ve been hit really hard”  they have  put in requests for extra pumps.   The water  remains  good,   as those pumps were shut down  when the  levels started to rise.

MLA Mike Bernier who represents the  Peace River South  riding says ,  “I can honestly say this is probably the worst flood I have ever seen in this area.”  He praised the community  for  “stepping up to help their neighbours”.

Bernier says the community  of Dawson Creek was basically divided in half ,  because of washouts.  “Now the water is starting to go down and  we have started to assess some of the damage in the area and it is extensive.”  He says  engineers  have been  examining roads and bridges in the Dawson Creek area, and “Where  roads and bridges can be opened,  they are  being opened.”

Still,  there are hundreds of people who are cut off,  because their access roads are  washed out.  The Ministry of Transportation says   those  people will remain “stranded” until  repairs can be made.

Over the course of the  storm,  Dawson Creek received 89.8 mm of rain on  June 15th, the highest  amount of  rainfall in one day ever in the history of  weather  records for that  community.  Over the course of the storm,  Chetwynd received 133 mm of rain  , and Dawson Creek  received a total of  105mm.

David Campbell  from the River Forecast Centre,  the  rivers  in the South Peace have reached their peaks,   and  are  showing  signs of receding.