Dale Mayer's home along the banks of Mission Creek in Kelowna, B.C., is usually a blissful haven.

The large red house with a sprawling backyard is close to downtown but the large trees on the property, coupled with the creek flowing by, make it feel like a sanctuary.

But Friday morning, that sanctuary was more like a fortress as Mayer surrounded herself with 1,000 sandbags along the front and back of her home to guard against the now-raging creek. 

"You prepare for the worst and you hope for the best. But at the same time, afterwards you look at it and think, 'Wow, that was a lot of work,' " Mayer said. 

With the sun shining through the tree canopy and the river keeping within its boundaries, Mayer felt both frustration and relief. 

"Relief because we didn't get the big flood, frustration because we did so much prep and you wonder if too much was made of the event," she said.

"I think I'll take the data with a little bit more doubt next time ... I'll take the information with a little bit more of a grain of salt — or sand."

'We're not out of it'

The City of Kelowna has been warning residents for days about the imminent risk of unprecedented flooding in the city caused by a combination of melting snowpack, heavy rain and saturated ground.

But the shorts-and-T-shirt weather most of Friday left some residents doubting the severity of the risk.

This doubt was frustrating for Emergency Operations Centre director Ron Mattiussi, who has been cautioning residents to prepare their homes and remain on alert for the next few days. 

Mattiussi said in the 10 years he has served in his role, he has never seen a situation with so many complex and quickly changing variables. 

"This is a bit like whack-a-mole," Mattiussi said. "We're not out of it."

He and his fellow crew members watched late Thursday night as the city dodged each passing rain cloud like a bullet.

Mattiusi said Okanagan Lake is full and still rising by four centimetres a day, expected to peak by mid-June.

But the city's more pressing concern is the volatile weather that could affect the quickly moving and rising rivers