Image: Chelsea Powrie
Rain and winds picked up throughout the morning in Osoyoos Thursday, which is yet more bad news for lakeside hotels and resorts.
The Safari Beach Resort is currently empty, and its 40 feet of beachfront is completely underwater.
“We’ve been preparing for this for a couple of weeks now, we’ve got the property sandbagged all the way,” said manager Peter Bueschkens. “We’re expecting [the lake] to peak Friday or Saturday.”
Bueschkens said they’ve had several cancellations for the May long weekend.
“The lake’s not very appealing, and we’re not putting boats on the lake anymore,” he said.
Of the many lakeside hotels in Osoyoos, only the Coast Hotel has been fully evacuated. Manager Muhammad Mian, who has only been on the job one week, said he hopes they will reopen by early June, though rainfall is a concern.
“We’re supposed to be 100 per cent [capacity] this weekend,” Mian said. “We had to cancel them. It has to get worse before it gets better.”
The Holiday Inn, next door to the Coast, has been fielding calls from concerned visitors. Sales and marketing manager Arran Balint said they’ve had some cancellations as well.
“Our guests know that Osoyoos is just a fantastic place to be overall, even if they can’t experience motorized watercraft,” Balint said.
There is more rain in the forecast for Friday in Osoyoos, and lake levels are still expected to continue to climb.
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