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Delta throwback: Hoping to avoid this scenario

Delta’s dike system is more than 125 years old and approximately 67 kilometres in length
delta flood 1894
Delta residents getting around any way they can after a major flood.

Let's go back to January 1894 when a major flood occurred in Delta.

People had to get around as best they could including these two unidentified men with their dog on Laidlaw Street at the corner of Chisholm Street.

The region has been hit with several big flood events over the years, the biggest occurring in 1894 and 1948.

Delta council this week received a spring freshet update from the engineering department, which noted extremely warm temperatures since mid-April resulted in rapid snow melt at low mountain elevations and onset of the freshet season.

The Fraser River flow increased rapidly and the flow and level are currently higher than normal for this time of year at the Hope Gauge and Mission Gauge.

Engineering director Steven Lan said an annual Delta dike inspection was completed in late April

Lan noted a most likely scenario for flooding in Delta, if it were to occur, would be if there was a dike breach.

The city is still in Stage One of its Flood Plan.

The next stage would be activated only when the water level at the Mission Gauge reaches six metres.