Heavy rains left 28 campers stranded at the Squamish Valley Campground, as rising water levels caused the Squamish River to breach its banks and pour into the site on Sunday morning (July 22).
The river, which began flooding just before 4 a.m., turned the campsite in the Upper Squamish Valley into an island, leaving campers without a safe escape route, and causing a few overnighters some scary moments.
"It rained pretty hard on Saturday night and another couple woke up to water in their tent," said Bobbi Jo Bergstrom, who was camping in a group with 20 other people, including 13 children all under the age of 10.
"They came over and woke me up because I was floating in the river. It was frightening."
Because of the remoteness of the campsite, Bergstrom was unable to get through to 911.
"I was eventually able to get a hold of my mother and then she got through to 911."
A dozen members of the Squamish Emergency Program (SEP) were dispatched to the scene after Whistler RCMP received a 911 call at 4:50 a.m.
However, due to the communication difficulties, campers were not certain that help was on the way, so they decided to self-evacuate, and waded through chest-high water while holding onto the children.
"The water line had moved about two feet in 15 minutes," said Bergstrom. "Because we had 13 children 10 and under, we decided as a group that it was more important to get the children out than wait for help."
According to SEP coordinator Jim Lang, by the time search and rescue arrived, Bergstrom's group had already left the area and only seven campers remained stranded.
When SEP arrived, seven people were still stuck on the island, and rescue workers used inflatable kayaks to ferry them to safety.
"When they first made the call it was still dark out so obviously people were worried because they couldn't see exactly what the situation was," said Lang. "As it got light out some of them were confident that they could get themselves out and they waded through chest high water. But I really don't recommend doing what they did."
While the water that campers waded through to get to the main shore was not fast moving, Lang said that there is no way of knowing what is underneath the water's surface during a flood and that in these situations, people stay put until help arrives.
"There's no point going into the water when you're safe and dry and you know that help is on the way," said Lang.
The best recourse is for campers to move to higher ground during heavy rains, ideally before flooding occurs.
Bergstrom agreed with Lang about the potential danger of wading through the water, but said they were unwilling to wait since they were uncertain when help would arrive.
"We knew that it wasn't the best idea going through the water but we didn't know if anyone was coming and we had to get those children safe," she said.
All the campers were evacuated before 8 a.m., and water levels have since returned to normal, said Lang, noting that travelers to the site would likely be unable to tell that it had flooded.
