Sixteen Crawford Bay homes and a few businesses were evacuated around 10:45 p.m. yesterday after the partial failure of a dike on Crawford Creek, which runs just east of the community.
“There was water coming over the dike and piping through in one section, and there was another section that started to do that,” said Bill Macpherson, public information officer with the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s Emergency Operations Centre, from his Nelson office. “The staff on the ground decided to err on the side of caution.”
An evacuation centre was set up at the Crawford Bay Hall, but was unused as all of the displaced residents found accommodation with family or friends.
A hydrologist and geo-technician were at the site this morning to assess the situation, caused by heavy rainfall over the previous 48 hours.
“Currently, all water flow through breaches or over the dyke is contained in the channel dug yesterday evening,” Macpherson said in a press release.