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Residents take fluctuating flood in stride

Even though there are normally acres of land between her house and the Fraser River, Louise Young's home has turned into waterfront property. But the 29-year Denicola Crescent resident isn't too concerned with the approaching water.
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Even though there are normally acres of land between her house and the Fraser River, Louise Young's home has turned into waterfront property.

But the 29-year Denicola Crescent resident isn't too concerned with the approaching water.

"It's a great place to live down here. But when this happens, it happens," said Young, who sandbagged around her home Tuesday afternoon on the advice of representatives of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.

"I wasn't even going to sandbag, because I knew it wasn't going to reach my house. But it kept coming and coming, so I sandbagged anyway," she said. "It's always for moot. Same as this."

On Tuesday night, after the river peaked at 10.02 metres at South Fort George, water lapped at the bags at the rear of her home east of Prince George but didn't get around the house.

Young is one of 48 residents under evacuation alert in the regional district - 22 in the Foreman Flats area and 26 in the Shelley townsite.

The district is choosing to "err on the side of caution," and keep those alerts intact for the next few days, said spokesperson Renee McCloskey.

An evacuation order is still underway for one resident in the Robson Valley, whose home is on the site of the mudslide that narrowed Highway 16 East, 23 kilometres east of Slim Creek.

Although the high water levels have receded slightly, they remain above 9.4m and are still expected to fluctuate over the next couple of days. Warmer weather forecast for Wednesday through Friday will affect the snow melt and and weekend rain is expected to raise river levels again.

Within the city limits, Paddlewheel Park and the surrounding area continues to lie underwater.

"Accordingly, all evacuation alerts and orders issued by the Emergency Operations Centre remain in place," said city spokesperson Chris Bone. The city's Evacuation Support Program will continue to provide short-term emergency food and shelter assistance as required.

Vehicle traffic in the South Fort George area will be restricted for operational reasons. But that hasn't stopped curious neighbours from walking down Hamilton Avenue to get a closer look at the flooding.

"Residents are cautioned to remain away from the banks and flood protection dikes as hazardous conditions on and around rivers in Prince George, including large trees and stumps dislodged from river banks and into fast flowing water," Bone said.

The water caused some extra work for CN Rail as they moved to repair an undermined bank and guardrail swept into the Fraser across from Houston Lane.

"There is high water in the area and it has caused erosion to the riverbank," said a CN spokesperson. While the company is still able to operate on one of the two tracks, the one at the edge of the riverbank has been compromised.

"CN is able to safely operate trains. We are performing the necessary repairs to the bank and are monitoring the situation closely."