Merritt evacuees may promptly retreat home, others are allowed limited everyday access

Key takeaways:

Several citizens will be able to retreat to their homes on Sunday pending water test results.
Others are granted limited everyday access to their homes.

BC’s Merritt evacuees may soon go back home:

More citizens of Merritt, B.C. will likely be able to retreat home by the weekend, while others are being allowed limited daily access to their homes as the region continues following an evacuation order.

In a press release on Thursday, the City of Merritt stated triumphant flood relief works limited further flooding during three significant rainstorms that pounded southwestern B.C. this preceding week, permitting officials to move ahead with their “Return Home Plan.” Source – cbc.ca

The city issued its three-phase program on Nov. 22, describing when citizens can start to return after constant rains made the Coldwater River, which runs through the southern Interior community, overrun its banks, triggering the evacuation of 7,000 citizens a week preceding.

Stage 3 of the plan refers to homes south of Nicola Avenue where properties were most hit by the flooding.

But because the destruction and hazards diversified among properties in Stage 3, the city chose to break up the region into two separate stages, attaching Phase 4.

Citizens in Phase 3 will be able to retreat to their homes on Sunday if a pending water sample test appears back clean, or clear of hydrocarbons and pollution.

Meantime, citizens in Phase 4 will be allowed daily access to their homes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. beginning Dec. 2. The region is still under a “do not consume” water warning. Source – cbc.ca

Officials also advise of hazards and possible risks in the region, such as eroded paths and roads, polluted soils, sinkholes and huge debris.