2 rivers remain under flood watch in B.C. Interior amid rapid snowmelt and rain in forecast

Parts of British Columbia's Interior remain under a flood watch as a spell of warm weather over the weekend melted snow and rain is in the forecast in some communities.

The fire risk also remains high in areas of the central and southern Interior and part of the northern Rocky Mountains, as two wildfires of note continue burning in the Cariboo region.

The River Forecast Centre says the Nazko and West Road rivers in southern central B.C. are still under flood watch, with the rising water creating a danger that they could spill over their banks.

A flood watch means that river levels are rising and will approach or may exceed banks. Flooding of areas adjacent to affected rivers may occur.

The Lower Thompson River basin west of Kamloops also has an active flood watch, and the Village of Cache Creek — about 80 kilometres west of Kamloops — has declared a state of local emergency.

On Sunday, Cache Creek issued an evacuation order for one property on the Trans Canada Highway because of the flood risk.

Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta said in the Sunday declaration the local state of emergency will remain in place until midnight on May 6. 

Earlier in the day he told CBC News that residents should stay away from river banks, and he hoped conditions would improve.

"Hopefully the melt will end and we don't get rain. That would be the biggest blessing we could have, is that the snowpack that feeds Cache Creek dissipates rather soon," he said.

The province warned last week that warming temperatures would increase the likelihood of rising water levels, with the highest risk associated with mid-elevation river systems throughout much of the central Interior.

Environment Canada says several Interior communities in B.C. will see rain Monday after the recent heat that set new temperature records on Friday and Saturday, including in Kamloops, where it came close to 32 C.

2 wildfires of note still burning 

Meanwhile, the Lost Valley and Dripping Water wildfires in the Cariboo remain labelled as wildfires of note, meaning they are either highly visible or pose a potential threat to public safety.

Evacuation alerts have been issued by both the Tl'etinqox First Nation government and by the Cariboo Regional District for the area around the Dripping Water fire, about 600 kilometres north of Vancouver. 

As of Monday morning, that fire was reported as just more than two square kilometres in size.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says both fires are suspected to have been caused by human activity.