Prince George, B.C. - Evacuation alerts have been uissued to  eight more residences  as the Nechako River ice jam expanded to 9.5 kilometres from the confluence of the Nechako River and the Fraser River to 3 kilometres from Morning Place near  the City limits.

The eight residences – seven on Morning Place and one farther west on North Nechako Road – are subject to flooding when waters are high.  Residents were notified that their homes are deemed to be in danger from rising water and that they should prepare to leave on short notice should waters rise further.

Snow clearing operations have started to allow gabion diking to be placed on the shoreline along Morning Place. Diking will be installed Tuesday. The North Nechako Road property will not be diked because of ground conditions, but sandbags are being delivered to that residence. Pumps will also be deployed to that area after the diking is complete to clear ground water that might rise in that area.

A number of houses between Morning Place and the North Nechako Road residence are above the 200-year flood plain and do not require diking.

In other mitigative measures, the City has been pumping ground water into the Nechako from its pumping station immediately to the west of the Cameron Street Bridge. The water being pumped comes from the pump station across the river from the Delhaven subdivision, which has been subject to flooding for the past two weeks. The pumping was begun to reduce groundwater levels in the Delhaven-Pozer Road area, but has produced an added benefit in that the water being pumped has helped create open water downstream from the station.

Water levels continue to drop east of the Cameron Street Bridge.