Open this photo in gallery Some Central Interior ranchers facing serious damage to their property and operations following the flooding. Treena Plummer/Handout

Flooding on British Columbia’s Chilcotin River has left some Central Interior ranchers facing serious damage to their property and operations, and hoping for provincial relief.

“This started Saturday afternoon. This is Tuesday, and nobody has showed up,” said rancher Randy Saugstad of Big Creek, home to about 50 people, in an interview on Tuesday.

He said the province needs to fix the roads and then consult residents to see if they need financial help.

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Emergency Management BC, the provincial co-ordinator for emergency issues, said in a statement issued Tuesday that the responsibility for managing emergencies rests at the local level and emergency management has been supporting the Cariboo Regional District and Tsilhqot’in National Government since the first reports of localized flooding were received.

“It is our understanding that the applicable local emergency managers have been in contact with individuals and the vast majority indicated that they are currently safe and are not in need of assistance,” the statement issued by Tara Gostelow said.

Five consecutive days of rain totalling 100 millimetres have created conditions of a once-in-a-200-year flood situation, the provincial River Forecast Centre said in a statement on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, an additional five millimetres was expected, leading the river to rise, peak and then recede, the centre said.

The response to date has included helicopter overflights to assess damage, with a further flight planned for Wednesday. Also, the Transportation Ministry will send crews in to assess roads as flood waters recede in the coming day, and the province is preparing to repair affected roads.

Mr. Saugstad said the conditions are unprecedented in the generally dry area with residents stranded due to washed-out roads.

The 68-year-old, who has spent about half his life in the area, said he last saw flooding on this scale in 1990 and 1991, but even it was small compared with current conditions that have flooded hay fields needed to feed cattle, and with water levels surrounding at least one barn up to its roof.

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He said he flew over the area on Tuesday in a small aircraft he owns to get a sense of things. “The water is going down, but there’s a lot of damage," he said. "It’s going to take a while to fix.”

He said he is not aware of any injuries.

Mr. Saugstad said the creek near his home has gone “nuts,” expanding to about 30 metres in width from barely one metre wide.

That prompted him and his wife to go out with a pair of tractors to transport rocks to the riverbank in an attempt to dam the water and save their house from flooding.

Mr. Saugstad said that although his 150 cattle are fine, he has suffered thousands of dollars in damage, but it’s too soon to fully assess.

And while he believes climate change is to blame for the situation, he added that he expects his neighbours will disagree with him.

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Treena Plummer, also of Big Creek, said she her husband Wayne are okay, though stranded after their road was washed out. “Our house is on high ground so we’re safe,” she said, adding her livestock are also safe.

Kevin Boon, the general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association said the organization will look in due course at the issue of possible assistance for damage. In a brief statement, he said that emergency officials are assessing the needs of affected residents, and considering whether or not there needs to be either human or livestock evacuations. He added that lives don’t seem to be in jeopardy, and that livestock are safe.