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Officials urge caution around swollen waterways with hot weekend in forecast

Be careful near high water

Enjoy the warm weather this weekend, but stay away from high water.

That was the message from government officials on Friday during a news conference updating B.C.’s flood situation.

“I would really urge safety and caution as we come into this weekend,” B.C. River Forecast Centre head Dave Campbell said.

“Flows on the rivers across the vast majority of the province are extremely high for this time of year — unusually high. So certainly recognize that hazard.”

Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan urged similar caution.

“Public safety around water bodies is critical,” he said.

“We do not want to see statistics like we sometimes do at this time of the year with people accessing the very cold water and becoming hypothermic or getting swept away in high river levels and streams.”

B.C.'s first heat wave of the year is expected to see temperatures cracking the 30 C-mark by the end of the weekend and into next week.



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