Flood warnings and advisories were in effect for river systems up and down Vancouver Island on Saturday.
The Tseshaht First Nation near Port Alberni declared a state of emergency the day before.
Members spent three days filling sandbags in preparation for the downpour.
“Some of our guys did 14 hours yesterday, but we did a lot of prep Thursday night. We filled a thousand bags,” said Boyd Fred.
Crews estimated they’d fill another 6,000 to 7,000 bags on Saturday to surround 14 homes within the reserve’s flood zone.
“Everybody’s volunteer, we put a call out to Facebook and we got a good response yesterday. We could use more help today, the more helping hands the better,” Fred said.
Six families living in four homes along the Somass River were evacuated as a precaution for the upcoming storms.
“We’ve been told by both the River Forecast Centre and by Environment Canada that the flooding this coming week will be as great as the flooding in 2014 which was catastrophic here,” said Hugh Braker, an emergency preparedness coordinator with the Tseshaht reserve.
The local First Nation declared a state of emergency fearing the river could rise to reach the bridge crossing the Somass.
“We’ve got a series of storms coming in starting Sunday continuing on until Wednesday, estimates range between 150 to 300 millimetres,” Braker said.
If levels rise that high it could lead to flooding across Highway 4, which would cut off access between Port Alberni and the West Coast including Ucluelet and Tofino.
Predicted rain was lighter than expected overnight on Friday and into Saturday.
Crews anticipate rough conditions will hit Monday and Tuesday.
