The BC Coroners Service is warning residents to take extreme care near streams and rivers which are running faster and higher than normal.
People can significantly underestimate the force that can be unleashed by a fast-running river, said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe. They don't realize how different it is from the quiet stream where they regularly swim, raft or paddle.
Three such deaths already have occurred this spring. Last week, two young men were swept away in Maple Ridge in Golden Ears Provincial Park. A woman who fell into Swift Current Creek, near Valemount, also died. If a river is running quickly, a depth of only about 15 centimetres (or six inches) is needed to sweep a person downstream. A depth of as little as 60 centimetres (or two feet) of water can carry away most vehicles.
The Fraser River is expected to peak on the weekend at six metres on the Mission gauge but no local flooding is expected.
Stream banks also can be unstable and can collapse with the added weight of persons standing on them. Moving water or standing pools of water also can contain dangerous debris, so no one should try to walk or drive through them.
The warning comes as the BC Coroners Service releases its newest report into Accidental Drowning Deaths, covering the period from 2008 through 2012. The report looks at a total of 397 deaths. Of those, 59 per cent occurred in the summer months of May through August.
The statistics make clear the danger of mixing alcohol or drugs with water-related activities. Of all deaths recorded, impairment by alcohol or drugs was a factor in 40.2 per cent of the cases.