King tide floods Yaletown seawall but doesn't move English Bay barge

Dec 8 2021, 10:44 pm

Parts of the seawall in Yaletown were flooded again Wednesday as one of several king tides pushed more water than usual up the banks of False Creek.

Olivia Tobias captured video of the water submerging part of her usual walking route in David Lam Park, and shared the footage with Daily Hive.

Nearly a foot of seawater was sitting on the pathway below the basketball courts, covering bases of park benches usually used by pedestrians.

King tides happen when the sun and moon’s gravitational forces work in tandem to create larger-than-usual tides. Vancouver is forecast to experience the large tides until December 10, according to the City.

king tides

City of Vancouver

The last set of king tides happened in November, submerging parts of the seawall along False Creek and Jericho Pier.

Officials previously said they’d try to move the barge that’s stuck in English Bay during the king tides, hoping that higher water levels would make it easier to tug the boat off the rocks.

So far, the barge has stayed put. Pieces of equipment were down at Sunset Beach Wednesday morning to make repairs and prepare for the next removal attempt, but work had to stop due to high winds.

The City says the timing of the next barge removal attempt is still to be determined.

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