A flash flood in Savona, west of Kamloops, over the Canada Day weekend damaged homes and temporarily shut down the Trans-Canada Highway, and crews are on site working to repair the damages.

The flooding, caused by a thundershower, impacted 20 homes and temporarily closed Highway 1 from Vavasour Road to Tunkwa Lake Road the evening of June 30, according to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

The district said the emergency operations centre was activated at 9 a.m. yesterday, July 1.

Both lanes on Highway 1 are open but speeds are reduced along the 3.8-kilometre stretch, according to DriveBC, where crews are working to drain water and repair damages. 

Residents have been posting photos and videos of the rare event on social media. 

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch today, July 2, for the Central and North Okanagan including Kelowna and Vernon, the Shuswap region including Salmon Arm, and the Nicola including Merritt.

Residents affected by the flooding are encouraged to call the district’s emergency centre at 250-377-7188.

Residents are also encouraged to subscribe to the TNRD’s emergency notification system Voyent Alert, which is free and anonymous.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

Share|Facebook