A temporary dyke is set up down the middle of Farrell Street to help protect homes from flood waters due to high water levels on the Fraser River in Prince George, B.C., June 8, 2012. Residents in homes on the right side of the street have been given evacuation noticesBrent Braaten/The Canadian Press
The B.C. government is urging Prince George residents to obey official evacuation orders.
But some are treating severe flooding in the area as just another summer nuisance now that Fraser River water levels have slowed their climb.
"If you are asked to evacuate, you need to do that," Justice Minister Shirley Bond said Tuesday.
"If you fail to obey an evacuation order, you can put yourself, your family or others at risk."
Eighteen homes were issued evacuation notices on Monday and all residents, except for one man, are believed to have complied, said Chris Bone, a spokeswoman for the city of Prince George.
Another four areas in the city have been served with evacuation alerts, asking people to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Eighty-two-year-old Joe LeBlanc lives on one of the affected streets. He said the rising waters don't concern him.
"We've never flooded here anyways," said Mr. LeBlanc, who has lived in his home for 20 years.
"I'm not worried about it."
Water levels are no longer expected to reach record-breaking heights in the city.
According to Dave Campbell, the head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, the rate of rise for the water levels has dropped, with the maximum height expected to reach 10 metres by Tuesday evening, falling short of the 10.4 metres the waters reached in 1972.
Erik Christensen lives near many of the homes that received evacuation notices.
A public park a few blocks from his house is partially underwater, he said, and the floodwaters have come close to some homes.
Yet many residents are unfazed, he said.
"These people are still watching the river," Mr. Christensen said. "I don't think they have any plan of evacuating because the river is always going up and down here. So, we're very used to it."
His house is not affected and he can think of only about a dozen that might be.
"It's not that big a deal as far as I can tell," he said.
Ongoing wet weather, however, may cause another potential surge in water levels in the region next week, Mr. Campbell of the forecast centre said.