A forestry crew worked hard today, June 2, 2017, to beef up sandbag walls at Red Wing Resort on Penticton's northern outskirts.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

PENTICTON - The flood emergency at Red Wing Resort eased somewhat today after the regional district dispatched a forestry crew to the community to shore up a sandbag wall that appeared to be failing.

“Water came up a bit more than we expected last night, but fortunately Red Wing residents have been working really hard to build up their defences.That, coupled with the sandbag wall the forestry crew constructed has done a good job of securing the wall,” Community Services Manager Mark Woods said earlier this afternoon, June 2.

The City of Penticton issued a press release earlier today warning the sandbag wall was in imminent danger of failing, prompting the regional district's response.

Woods said a few more bags were added to the wall’s height as well, as water levels continue their relentless creep up the gated community’s shoreline.

Not so shallow anymore: A dock at Red Wing, normally in shallow water, is now submerged and more than 30 metres from shore as Okanagan Lake continues to rise.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

The upper rungs of a dock ladder can be seen, now 30 metres or more off shore. Water has encroached low lying shoreline to within 25 metres of residences, surrounding trees, picnic tables and other shoreline amenities. Water now laps up to the resort’s clubhouse, but a sandbag wall is keeping the water out, and doesn’t appear to be posing a threat to that building at the moment.

Woods says the district continues to work towards a targeted high water mark of 343.6, allowing for wave action, to be reached in the week of June 10.

“As much as the water is going to keep rising to a certain point, it will be here for weeks, so we’ll see what happens over those weeks with wave action. Trying to secure these areas for that time period is what we are focussed on,” Woods said.

Woods cautions residents to be wary of trees in flooded areas.

“If you have trees in water, they should be assessed by a professional,” he says, noting the regional district would be conducting assessments on trees affected by flooding as part of the recovery operations, expected to continue for months after the flooding subsides.

Waterfront amenities are now partially submerged at Red Wing Resort.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

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