Storm Update
We had a pause in the rainstorm, however the final pulse from this third ‘atmospheric river’ event will see rains start up again later this afternoon and fall into the night. The forecast rainfall is between 10-20 mm today with the potential of an additional 10 mm overnight. The rain will taper off towards morning and we will dry out tomorrow with cooler temperatures.
River Impacts
BC Hydro issued their Flood Alert last evening and the Alouette Reservoir has reached the ‘freecrest’ level of the dam. The slowdown in the rainfall has helped decrease the inflows into the reservoir, however the rainfall over the next 12 hours will determine the level of spill into the South Alouette.
BC Hydro and City crews will be monitoring the water levels in the South Alouette as the rain event tapers off and we will provide an update later this evening if the conditions look like they will exceed the November 15 rain event levels. Based upon the current information from BC Hydro the river water levels will start to recede overnight, however the flow rates will continue to be high in the coming days as the freecrest ends and Hydro moves to a controlled release to lower the level of the reservoir to seasonal norms.
Last night the water levels in the North Alouette River did result in closures along 132 Avenue and 224 Street from 132 Avenue north. The North Alouette River level has dropped due to the break in the rain, however it is expected that we will see an increase over the next 12 hours as the last of the rain flushes through the watercourse.
The Kanaka River continues to have very high outflow rates and volumes, while the river has receded with the break in the rainfall, it will rise again with the last pulse of rain. Levels could be similar to those seen on November 15, until the rainfall ends.
Current Situation
The break in the rainfall in this third wave has helped the river systems stabilize as the storm wanes overnight and into tomorrow morning.
Higher water levels may occur on the North Alouette overnight although not to the same extent as seen over the last couple of days.
The new projections are that the South Alouette impacts will now be similar to the November 15 peak, with high water flows and some flood impacts along the South Alouette.
It is important to be prepared for the conditions at the high end of the forecast rain amounts. The information available at this time indicates the peak flows on the South Alouette will happen between midnight and 3:00 am Thursday morning.
Next Steps
Sand and sandbags are available at the 232 Street parking lot at Maple Ridge park adjacent to the South Alouette Bridge. Sand and sandbags have also been dropped off at the north parking lot of Maple Ridge Park off fern Crescent. There is also sand and sandbags at the parking lot adjacent to the Hammond outdoor pool at 20601 Westfield Avenue.
Citizens are encouraged to sign up for notifications through the City’s Alert Centre at mapleridge.ca/list.aspx. You can subscribe to Emergency Alerts or any other notification you choose. With the option to receive email or text notifications. Please share this information with your friends and family. Stay safe.
Updates will be posted as a spotlight on the City’s website at mapleridge.ca.
Updates are also posted on the City’s Facebook page @yourmapleridge. We encourage you to follow our posts there for road closures and other updates.
You can get the latest information on regional road impacts online at DriveBC.
A new update will be posted if the conditions will exceed the November 15 weather event. The next scheduled update is on Thursday.
