Kelowna takes stock of water levels after thunderstorm hits

Officials are checking the water levels atOkanagan Lake this morning to determine how overnight storms may have contributed to ongoingfloods.

Yesterday the CentralOkanaganEmergencyOperation CentresaidOkanaganLake could riseanother 10 centimetres because of the storm. Experts are predicting water levels in thelake won't peak until mid-June.

Water is already washing across Water Street near downtown Kelowna and residents of a mobile home park in West Kelowna hopetoday's plans to dam and lower the levels of a nearby canal willsave 37 properties.

Sandbags are holding back Okanagan Lake on one side of the mobile homes, but the canal is backing up behind them, raising ground waterlevels that now threaten the homes.

The Central Okanagan Regional District has said Okanagan Lake levels could climb another 10 centimetres before peaking in abouttwo weeks, while Mission Creek through downtown Kelownaisalso forecast to keep rising until mid-June.