While we're not completely out of the the woods yet, the removal of sandbags can begin in some areas of the Central Okanagan.
Mandi Carroll with the Emergency Operations Centre says certain properties are no longer at risk of flooding.
“Water levels are slowly trending downwards,” she says “so if you’re not on the lake and haven’t seen water in a couple of weeks, or you’re further back from the lake, or along some of those creeks- not at the mouth of the creek- sandbags can start being removed.”
She says lake levels remain historically high, so flooding along the foreshore is still a concern and residents should continue to assess and bolster flood protection measures.
Okanagan Lake measured at 343.207 metres on Friday, down from 343.213 on Thursday.
Carroll says residents can either keep sandbags in place for crews to pick-up in the coming weeks, or they can drop sandbags off at the Cook Road Boat Launch or the Apple Bowl Parking Lot in Kelowna, or Beasley Park Parking Lot in Lake Country.
Due to the threat to wildlife and nature, sandbags are not to be emptied on the beach.
Approximately 1.7 million sandbags equalling 1500 truckloads of sand were dispersed throughout the Central Okanagan since the flooding began early May.