Residents at the Glenfair seniors complex once used this path to enter Peterson Creek Park. Since the flood, it's washed away.
(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)
August 13, 2014 - 5:25 PM
KAMLOOPS - The rainfall from Tuesday night may have assisted in soaking surrounding wildfires, but didn’t help much with the flood damage at Peterson Creek Park.
Staff with the Parks and Recreation department from the City is still assessing the damage caused by the July 23 flash flood. The black-diamond Billy Miner trail has been closed for nearly two weeks, along with the access road beside Escape Trail.
Kirsten Wourms with the City of Kamloops was in the park on Wednesday afternoon. She says her crew is working with drainage engineers to assess the damage and repair the trails.
While the City has offered temporary re-routing to trails and are working towards long-term repair, residents from the Glenfair residential area are blocked from entering the park; the trail leading to it has been washed away.
“You can’t fight nature,” is what resident Cindy Kendall had to say about the trail flooding. She pointed out the flood’s ability to reroute the creek's location behind the courthouse and move rock, mulch and branches to new locations. The trail access is now a sandy hole in the ground. Kendall says many have tried to access the trail despite the signage, only to turn back around. She is particularly worried about the homeless people who enter the park at night to sleep.
Kendall says the damage grows worse with the rainfall. Last night’s downpour carved out larger pieces of sand and dirt.
The leaves and vegetation all show the strong force of the water – much of it remains matted down.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2014