PRINCE GEORGE — The City of Prince George declared a Level 1 emergency as the ice jam on the Nechako River reached the confluence of the Fraser River.
Level 1 means there is a “heightened awareness” in place, city spokesman Mike Kellett said.
If Level 2 is invoked, the city’s emergency operations centre will be staffed 24 hours a day.
The situation is being monitored around the clock and Emergency Management B.C. has been notified that assets such as gabion diking — large containers filled with sand — could soon be needed to mitigate potential damage.
As of Thursday morning, the river’s flow was estimated at 200 cubic metres a second — twice the normal level for this time of year and one of the thresholds seen as a precursor to a repeat of the winter of 2007-08, when the river burst its banks. Homes and businesses along the river were evacuated as the jam grew to nearly 15 kilometres. A state of emergency lasted 64 days before it was called off in mid-February 2008.
The bill for the emergency — including the cost of overtime and putting temporary diking in place — reached $4.3 million. The province covered 80 per cent of the total and the city the remaining 20 per cent.
