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Lake Country, Kelowna and West Kelowna have already experienced damage in several areas from last week's floods. On Wednesday, residents across the Central Okanagan were busy at the sand pits shoveling, bagging and bracing themselves for Thursday's forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Mayor Colin Basran posted a video message to stress the importance of being prepared and helping your neighbour.
Again, here are some practical ways to help your neighbour during this time:
* Sandbagging: Some may still be scrambling to get more sandbags around their property. Locations for sand are shown here. You can also go directly to the CORD Emergency website. Wait for the images to load on the map. The brown-coloured icons show the sand locations. You can show up at any sand pit location and ask who needs help.
* Store items: Your neighbours might have furniture or other valuables that are in an at-risk area of flooding. If you have a shed, garage, attic or even extra freezer space, this is a practical way to help.
* Generator or Pump: Residents in the flooded areas may lose their power. Offering a generator, candles, lanterns or any other battery-operated essential items could be greatly received by neighbours without power. As well, flooded areas will need pumping.
* Accommodation: If you have a spare room and could take a few people, this will lighten the load of the emergency response centre. The hotels are busy at this time of year and the emergency response centre has limited space for people who have been evacuated.
Check in with the Salvation Army for the Central Okanagan for more information on resources.
The salvation army is compiling a list of people who have spare beds available and is connecting them to evacuees in need of accommodations. The centre is providing basic services on site such as snacks and water. Those with spare beds are encouraged to phone the centre or come down in person and be added to the list. You can call the Salvation Army at 250 300 5616.
Pet service and help for evacuated people
Dr. Oz of Rose Valley Veterinarian will be offering their services, vet care, medicine, food, space for pets if people are evacuated. You can call the office and talk to one of the girls or him for more info 250-769-9109.
The YMCA of Okanagan will also be opening its doors to community members who may be affected. Individuals and families will be able to use showers free of charge at the Kelowna Family YMCA or the H20 Adventure + Fitness Centre as long as they bring ID upon entry. For any questions, the YMCA is urging people to contact their member services team at 250-491-9622.
The Crate Escape Dog adventures is also offering a safe place for affected individuals and families to place their dog. According to a Facebook post, The Crate Escape Dog Adventures have a couple of boarding spots open for friendly or non-aggressive dogs.
Videos and photos of the community helping out.
KelownaNow checked in with Lake Country residents on Wednesday as they were preparing for Thursday's rain. Here's a short video showing how strong the community camaraderie is in Lake Country, considering it was their fourth day of sandbagging.
Students from Okanagan Mission Secondary School and Rutland Senior Secondary sacrificed their mornings to help their community prepare for the upcoming floods. The class of 15 students watched Mayor Basran's video message and some news clips and made the decision to go to the nearest sandbagging station to help out. "It was a pretty special morning", said The teaching and CEA staff.
Kelowna's Muslims Student Association has been out helping the community by filling sandbags at various locations.
"We feel honored to share our volunteer work," said the Associations President Hassan Iqbal.
Chaparral home builders helped out with sand bagging on Thursday in Kelowna.
For more information on the state of the flood, as well as the latest alerts, we will continue to post updates here.
If you have services you want to offer or know someone who needs help, post in the comments below, or on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag: #OKfloodhelp.
You can also email us at news@kelownanow.com.
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