Merritt residents to begin returning home on Tuesday

The City of Merritt has outlined the plan to begin welcoming residents back to town, beginning with phase-1 on Tuesday, November 23.

Phase 1: North of the RCMP Station

We anticipate that the evacuation order for this phase will be lifted on Tuesday, November 23rd at 12:00 PM (noon).

Critical information for residents returning as part of phase 1:

• The phase 1 area will be on “Evacuation Alert” status
• The phase 1 area is on “Boil Water Notice”, meaning that all water must be boiled before it is consumed.
• The City asks that residents be extremely conscious of water use, as the Kengard well is the only well currently feeding this system and minimizing water use is necessary to preserve fire flow.
• Prior to return, residents should acquire sufficient food and supplies to be self-sufficient for 72 hours. Grocery stores in the phase 1 area are working to come online for November 23, 2021, though reduced hours may be in place and there is no guarantee on what products will be available.
• Garbage and recycling service will commence the week of November 29th, 2021 (commercial service will begin immediately)
• The City will be providing reduced levels of snow clearing service.
• The City has reduced flows for fire protection, which is being partially offset by water tanker and water truck vehicles on standby.
• Hydro, gas and internet utilities are all operational in the phase 1 area.
• The City is coordinating with the School District, which is developing a plan for remote learning for students in our community, alongside a plan for returning to physical locations.
• At the outset, the Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre will not be open. 9-1-1 services will be available with service to Kamloops. Interior Health is actively working on bringing additional health services online.

During this phase, roadblocks will remain on Voght Street at Grimmett Street, on Nicola Avenue at Juniper Drive, and on Nicola Avenue at Coldwater Road.

PHASE TWO

Phase 2: Between the RCMP Station and Nicola Avenue

The phase 2 area was not affected by flood inundation. Prior to lifting the evacuation order for this area, additional water flushing and testing will be conducted while the Kengard well fills the Grimmett reservoir. This increased reservoir supply will support increased fire flows and allow for the phase 2 area to return home.

We anticipate providing an update regarding the phase 2 evacuation order area by Thursday, November 25th, 2021, or earlier. Similar service limitations that were listed for phase 1 will be in place for phase 2.

PHASE THREE

Phase 3: South of Nicola Avenue

Within phase 3, there is a mix of properties that were and were not affected by flood. Timelines for removing the evacuation order to these neighbourhoods will be established as soon as possible. Orders will likely be removed on a block-by-block basis, with priority being given to those areas where utilities can more readily be re-established.

Rapid damage assessments are complete and the City is in the process of contacting those property owners with properties deemed unsafe (red). Concurrently, the City is developing a plan to communicate rapid damage assessment information to residents and to enable daytime only access to most portions of the phase 3 area. This will allow residents to collect belongings, assess damage, and begin cleaning and damage mitigation activities, prior to lifting the evacuation order for this area.

There are several challenges that the City is at various stages of addressing to ensure residents and business owners can safely return to this area, including:

• Rapid Damage Assessments for buildings;
• Safety assessments of streets to identify sinkholes, bridge integrity, and other hazards;
• Re-establishment of the water system, including identification and repair of water main breaks, connection, decontamination and super-chlorination of one additional well (and eventually all wells), water testing, and approval from Interior Health;
• Re-establishment of the sanitary sewer system, including identification and repair of sewer main breaks, system flushing to remove plugs in the system and improve flows to the wastewater treatment plant, and approval from the Ministry of Environment;
• Working with BC Hydro to determine the extent of electrical utility damage;
• Working with FortisBC to determine the extent of natural gas utility damage;
• Dike reconstruction and river re-routing;
• Presence of heavy equipment as infrastructure is being repaired.

For areas within phase 3 where damage was more substantial both to structures and utilities, the evacuation order could remain in place for an extended period of time.