Disaster Tourism

 Later that day we drove to Merritt to check out the after effects of the major flood they experienced last fall.  Mainly we wanted to see how our favorite campground on the Nicola River had fared after much of Highway 8 was washed away.

It turned out that the road was intact right to Nkwala recreation site.  Immediately around the corner, though, construction was in progress to rebuild the road.  Dump trucks were coming and going.  Nkwala was closed though we could still access the site.  The upper portion including the outhouses is intact, but the road leading down to the riverside campsites is washed away.

The river ran through the lower section, burying the firepits and washing away the picnic tables, but most of the trees are still standing.

The only firepit we found was in the campsite we camped in last June.

Happier times June 2021

Here's what it looks like now:

And here's the swimming hole where Leo was jumping off the rocks 8 years ago.

The river has rerouted to the other side of the channel.

On a much sadder note the nearest residence is gone.  All that is left is their fence and street number.

We drove through Merritt but not much damage was evident (at the time 50% of the town was flooded).  Eventually we found where the Coldwater River had washed away the municipal RV park and washed out the bridge.  Local houses had damaged items from their basements piled up in their front yards.  We did not take pictures. But here's the Google map below.

The RV park is leveled and half the bridge is gone. There's a fairly steep bank on the river.  The Coldwater must have come up really high!