Winter weather causes an additional challenge for Merritt rebuild

MERRITT, B.C. — The majority of Merritt residents made their way home this weekend after flood evacuation orders were lifted — but with the added layer of winter weather, the City says it’s going to be a long road to recovery.

“We have entire streets where entire asphalt has was ripped off. There were homes without sanitary sewer because those lines were destroyed and need to be rebuilt,” Merritt Emergency Information Officer Greg Lowis says.

There are 366 properties deemed “unlivable” because of structure damage, or because they don’t have heat or power. For those residents, there is a long road ahead to rebuild their lives.

“We’re still waiting on some of the final drinking water tests, but we’re really hopeful that relatively soon we will be able to come off of the boil water advisory,” Lowis told CFJC News.

He says the cold weather presents additional challenges for the city. With temperatures below freezing, clay deposited by the water has now frozen on roads, properties, and schools.

On Monday morning (Dec. 6), crews were out plowing snow, which took away from clean up efforts.

“We’re facing the normal challenges that we do in a winter,” he added. “If we have people who are out clearing snow, making sure that people can get out and about… For all of our workers who are doing that, that means they are not able to work on the recovery and rebuilding efforts.”

Merritt residents living in the new evacuation order zone are still able to apply for emergency support services while they rebuild their lives.