Ash/Creek News April 27th COVID, Local Flooding and a Local Fire For April 27, there have been 50 new cases in BC bringing the total positive cases to 1998. There are a number of community outbreaks, including at 2 poultry processing facilities in the lower mainland. Cases worldwide are slowing down, and countries are starting to work on re-opening plans.

The Wage Subsidy program is available now for businesses to apply. This is a Federal Government fund that provides 75% of an employees wages through businesses. Workers that are impacted by COVID-19 can also now apply for a one time $1000 payment from the Province of British Columbia. This payment is only available to those that are eligible for the CERB from the Federal Government.

The Ashcroft Bottle Depot has adjusted its hours. Home Hardware and IDA pharmacy have also started to close on Saturdays. Starhouse Restaurant in Cache Creek is open again for take out only. They are already extremely busy with orders as people must be missing their Chinese food.

Cache Creek is in a local state of emergency due to high water levels of both Cache Creek and the Bonaparte River which both run through the Village of Cache Creek. Wendy Coomber, EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) member chatted with us about the management of the floods. The EOC was activated to allow funding to be available to do work along both waterways to mitigate the potential damage of the flood water. There have been a few evacuation orders issued, with residents accessing the Emergency Services Centre set up at the Cache Creek Community Hall.

Public Works have been busy since Saturday night helping engineers identify weak areas, and ensuring that the town still has drinking water. Over the next few days, water levels are expected to remain steady in the river. There may be a rise in water level over the weekend with the projected warmer weather. The response from the Village has been very fast this year. This year’s flood caught them by surprise as the water levels rose over a week earlier than was expected. Work was started right away to mitigate potential damage. The Village has provided the supplies for anyone who is need of sandbags. There are three locations set up for anyone to use.

A fire broke out at the end of Collins Road in Cache Creek over the weekend. The Fire Department were on scene quickly and were able to extinguish the fire, which started in the detached garage. Two people were injured in the fire, with minor burn injuries. It appears that there will be extensive smoke damage to the house from the fire. This is the second fire in the last 10 days that the Cache Creek Fire Department were called to.