Search continues for missing Kelowna woman near flooding creek, as 2 B.C. areas remain in states of emergency

Search and rescue crews resumed what they called a "difficult" search Wednesday afternoon for a woman missing near an overflowing waterway in Kelowna, B.C.

Family members of 31-year-old Chelsea Cardno told CBC News they were also scouring the area but the river banks of the flooding creek were too unstable to allow a close approach.

Kelowna is one of two Interior communities still under a state of emergency because of the risk of flooding; the other is Sparwood, within the Elk Valley.

The City of Kelowna declared a state of emergency late Tuesday as the Mission Creek topped its banks, flooding numerous roads, yards and basements.

On Wednesday, Kelowna RCMP and Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) said they were searching for a woman who went missing near the creek on Tuesday.

Mounties say Cardno was last seen going to walk her dog near the Mission Greenway alongside the creek.

Her cousin Tanya Rudolph spoke to CBC News as she and five other family members searched the area Wednesday.

"The water is very high and very fast," she said in an interview. "It has come down a bit, so we were hopeful to kind of get some signs or something, but we've kind of come up empty-handed again."

Rudolph described Cardno as "bubbly" and "enjoying life," saying she had been out for a walk with her German shepherd when she disappeared. 

"You definitely don't want to be doing this," she said of the family's search efforts. "We're doing OK. Hanging in there."

COSAR said they conducted ground, water, and air searches for Cardno, and told CBC News they began "re-searching" the area Wednesday afternoon after the creek level dropped, using drones, ground searchers, and a boat at the mouth of the creek.

"We will be going through and re-searching areas that we did last night," said COSAR search manager Duane Tresnich. But he said fast-moving water kept searchers from safely walking along the riverbank, or from operating a search boat in the creek itself, making it "difficult for us to search."

Tresnich said during the search late Tuesday, crews rescued a "severely hypothermic" kayaker whose boat had capsized in the turbulent waters.

In a written statement, Kelowna RCMP Const. Mike Della-Paolera urged people to stay away from Mission Creek and the area being searched during the local state of emergency.