The rising waters at Canim Lake left Wolfgang and Karin Martens in an unexpected panic to find sandbags last week.
The land is low. The water is rising about three inches each day, says Wolfgang.
As of last week, the rising lake left their closest cabin and storage basement just 12 inches higher than the lake level.
The creek that bisects the resort is now rushing through in a torrent and the Martens’ campground is under water.
When they called around looking for a local emergency supply of sandbags, Wolfgang said they were directed to Interior Roads Ltd. (IR).
He says the road maintenance company had the sandbags and was happy to provide them, but informed him he first had to get permission from the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), which owned the emergency supplies.
"No problem," Wolfgang thought, until Karin contacted the EOC and was told they could not have any sandbags, as commercial properties in the CRD don't qualify for them.
However, the Martens also live on the property, and Wolfgang says they were very willing to pay for empty bags and fill them up with their own sand.
Noting the EOC representative suggested the sandbags were readily available in town, Wolfgang says he spent hours phoning all the building supply, hardware and ranch supply stores in town to no avail.
With the water level continuing to rise, the Martens' anxiety rose with it, so Wolfgang called his CRD Director Art Dumaresq, who, in turn, got in contact with CRD chair Al Richmond to see if they could help the Martens.
Wolfgang then phoned the Free Press and was given the name of a woman who had some information about the 100 Mile Midget hockey that conducted winter sandbag fundraisers. She gave him the information and told him the sandbags could be delivered overnight by bus.
Later that day, however, Interior Roads delivered sandbags to Dumaresq who, in turn, got them to the Martens.
However, Richmond explains the policy of not providing sandbags for businesses is set by the Emergency Management B.C. through its Provincial Emergency Program (PEP), and not by the CRD.
"We did manage to find a means of getting those sandbags to the resort owner."
Provincial policies, such as these, need to be identified so the CRD can try to resolve them, Richmond says, adding that until the regional district directors come up against it, they aren't necessarily aware of certain aspects.
He explains people need to bring their problems forward in the meantime and the board will deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
"We will always work to the best interests of our constituents in some manner, and we'll take this up with Emergency Management BC as an issue."
Meanwhile, Wolfgang says he is relieved the CRD came through with the sandbags.
However, he adds it’s “ridiculous” there isn’t a central point in the community for people with home-based businesses to get sandbags quickly.
"We are paying two-and-a-half times as much tax as anybody else on the lake, because it's commercial, and then when it comes down to an emergency ... who gets the stuff?"
Wolfgang notes he has noticed the creek levels are also rising all around in Area H, including at Buffalo Creek.
"I'm just thankful we phoned a couple days earlier - before it happens. We know it's going to flood."
