As Lower Mainland communities along the Fraser River gear up for a potential flood in the next few days, officials with the City of Port Coquitlam are watching the rising water closely.

With a high stream-flow advisory issued Monday for the Lower Fraser River, the city has kicked in its flood preparedness plans.

Though PoCo officials don't expect the city to be hit with widespread flooding, no chances are being taken.

The flood response includes extra patrols on city dikes, monitoring weather forecasts and river levels daily and keeping the public informed with a plethora of information on the city's website.

The city is also in the midst of updating its evacuation plan as necessary.

"The city is very prepared," said Tara Stroup, emergency program officer with the city.

A significant proportion of Port Coquitlam is in either the Fraser River or Pitt River flood plain. The city raised the dikes in the community in 2007 to avoid flooding.

On Tuesday, river levels at the Mission monitoring station had started to slightly recede.

Levels on the Lower Fraser River are expected to reach their peak by late Thursday or Friday.

A variety of resources are available at the city's website, portcoquitlam.ca/flood and, as of Wednesday, in printed format at City Hall and other city facilities.

For weeks the Kwikwetlem First Nation has been preparing for the potential of a flood along the Coquitlam River.

In early May, the band sent out a flood advisory to its members prior to a weekend that recorded near summerlike temperatures, while band members also started storing and filling 1,200 sandbags.

There are about 12 to 14 homes on the reserve that could be affected if the river starts to flood.

Communities near rivers around the province have been nervously watching water levels for weeks, as the potential for flooding is a possibility due to the higher than normal snow packs left from the winter.

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