Flooding is seen in Grand Forks, B.C. in this undated handout photo.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary

GRAND FORKS, B.C. - There is a feeling of "calm apprehension" in the southern British Columbia city of Grand Forks as officials warn of a coming second wave of flood waters, says Brett Swope.

The pastor at the Grand Forks Baptist Church said he noticed the flood waters returned on Tuesday when he drove down a local road covered in 15 centimetres of water. It had been dry on Monday, he said in an interview as he travelled around assessing the flood situation.

The residents of Grand Forks were unsure what water levels to expect in the coming days, Swope said.

"Some forecasts are calling for it to be higher, others are calling for it to be just lower than we had recently, but everybody's just sort of bracing for the impact and trying to do everything they can to be prepared," he said.

At least 1,500 homes in the Kootenay Boundary regional district, which includes Grand Forks, remained evacuated Tuesday following flooding over the last several days. Provincial officials say evacuation orders cover another 500 homes around the province, while more than 2,600 homes are on evacuation alert.

Swope said he's been amazed at the community's tireless labour.

"When I think of the sense of how our community is feeling, I think that they're, you know, kind of approaching everything with a calm apprehension."

He said "hundreds upon hundreds" of volunteers have prepared tens of thousands of sandbags in advance of potential flooding this week and residents are working from sun up to sun down.

Kevin McKinnon of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary said water levels were rising again in the area along the Granby River, just north of the Canada-U.S. border

McKinnon said the high water levels were "the start of round two" as unseasonable heat rapidly melts snowpacks, but this time the water isn't expected to recede overnight as it did in the first flood.

Heavy rains combined with spring runoff combined to push floodwaters to levels not seen in 70 years in and around Grand Forks last week.

Gordy Shaw moved to Grand Forks with his wife eight years ago from Richmond because he said he was worried about dykes bursting in the Metro Vancouver city.

"I worked all the sawmills along the Fraser River, and I never anticipated this little Kettle River (in Grand Forks) would ever flow like it did today."

Shaw said he had about 30 centimetres of water seep into his garage and learned over coffee with his neighbours on Tuesday that he was lucky compared with the damage experienced by others.

"They just talked to their insurance company, and the insurance company just said 'No, I'm sorry sir, it's overland flooding and you have no insurance,' " said Shaw.

Emergency Management BC said the Boundary region and Similkameen Valley have already seen significant flooding, while risks are also high across the Okanagan and Shuswap regions.

McKinnon said the rapid snowmelt is pushing river levels higher and there was a forecast of rain for the region by Wednesday.

"That's not a great combination," he said.

"All of the construction crews and maintenance crews will be hard at it, trying to get as much done before things happen, likely on Thursday," McKinnon said.

An evacuation alert was also issued Tuesday by the township of Langley for part of Glen Valley, as well as Brae and McMillan islands, after the Fraser River was measured at 5.5 metres in Mission, about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver.

It was the first evacuation alert of the 2018 flood season for any community near Metro Vancouver.

— By Spencer Harwood in Vancouver

News from © The Canadian Press, 2018