The City of Richmond has stepped up its dyke and pump inspections as the Lower Mainland braces itself for the highest Fraser River water levels in decades.
Langley Township and Abbotsford have issued evacuation alerts for this weekend, where the river flow is expected to peak and potentially burst its banks.
The water level of the Fraser along its route around Richmond is also forecast to spike sometime on Friday or Saturday.
But not at any level enough to cause a concern for the city, according to its spokesman, Ted Townsend.
"We're in constant communication with the provincial authority; we're well aware of the rising levels and we do expect to see higher levels down here," Townsend told the News on Wednesday.
"But it's not expected to be anywhere near the level that would pose a threat or that would breach the dykes.
"Our dykes are very well developed and we have the most robust system in the province."
Townsend reassured the Richmond public, adding that all of the city's dykes and pumping systems are in excellent working order and that inspections are being increased as an added measure of security.
"The dykes are well above the level of flooding seen in 1948 and 1972, when flooding occurred across the Fraser Valley," he said.
"For it to cause any kind of problem here, there would have to be the prefect storm of a big rains, unusually high tides and many other factors."
In 1972, river levels hit 7.17 metres, and the major flood of 1948 was 7.6 metres. One risk the city can't control is people on or near the water.
"High waters mean high currents and heightened risk, we'd like people to be mindful of that," Townsend said.
Langley Township issued an evacuation alert for the Glen Valley area on Wednesday. The alert was for those living in the flood plain in Glen Valley and in unprotected areas of Northwest Langley, Brae Island and McMillan Island.
"This is not an Evacuation Order," said Township director of public works Roeland Zwaag. "The Alert is being issued so that people in at-risk areas have time to make preparations, should conditions change and they need to leave their homes on short notice."
Heavy rains on the weekend have already led to flood and evacuation warnings in the Interior near Prince George.
The Forecast Centre has officially issued a High Streamflow Advisory for this week for the Lower Fraser River.
Levels at the Mission gauge peaked at 5.9 metres on the weekend before dipping again slightly. David Campbell of the River Forecast Centre said the current projection is that the gauge will hit 6.38 metres on Friday.
That would be higher than the 6.015 that was the peak in 2007. That year, just as water levels began rising, a week of cool air settled over the province and the rate of snowmelt slowed. There was no serious flooding in the Lower Mainland, although local fields, especially outside the dikes, were waterlogged.
The forecast may be wrong if weather in southern B.C. brings high temperatures, more rain, or both. That could cause an extra dose of water from nearby mountains and rivers that feed into the Fraser.
"You can't get very far down it before you're hip deep in water," Bean said.
