Water Dropping In Vanderhoof

By 250 News

Sandbags are passed  hand to hand to shore up gabion dike in Vanderhoof (photo Opinion250 staff)

In a true Vanderhoof spirit,  about 85 people showed up Monday to continue to build a dike around that community. It was a hand to hand operation because of the difficulty in reaching the area where the dike needed to be heightened.

The river continued to drop Monday It had hit a high of  cubic metres per second on Saturday  and was below the target of 750 cubic metres per second by last night.

Officalls say the Gabion diking system has worked very well in Vanderhoof, "You can put them up really quickly" said one observer .

That is the system which  was used along River Road in Prince George during the  Fraser and Nechako flood threat. 

Tom Bulmer, media relations person for the District of Vanderhoof says the emergency has been a real  learning experience "We have learned a lot about where the flood waters come from in this community. Interestingly, they come from the back of the community and then flow into town. This has given us a whole new insight into what we need to do to prevent a future flood."

While there has been some damage occurring in basements in the community, no major above ground damage has occurred.

"We might be able to build a series of dikes around the community that could double up as a walk way , but that is  just my idea and we will have to wait for a full report" said Bulmer.

Vanderhoof is  hoping the dikes will hold for another  few weeks as  Alcan continues to release high flows to reduce the level of water in the reservoir.

Later today, MInister of Public Safety / Solicitor General John Les will tour the Vanderhoof  area as well as visit the  Miworth region where homes have been moved  away from the eroding banks of the Nechako River.

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