VIDEO: Residents of a Langley City 55-plus residence were setting out sandbags on Sunday

Residents of a 55-plus residence in Langley City were laying down sandbags Sunday, hoping to avoid a repeat of the flood that caused close to $300,000 damage earlier in the month.

Mario Minnella, one of the residents of the 54-unit Parkway Estates, located in the 5300 block of 205th St., said the heavy rain that hit during the first atmospheric river to strike the Lower Mainland caused the second major flood the building has suffered in 12 years.

“It was 10 inches of water then,” Minnella recalled.

“This year, it was 15.”

Minnella said the building alarm went off after the five-foot pit below the first floor elevator stop filled up and overflowed, sending residents outside until the fire department determined it wasn’t a fire alarm.

Water damage was extensive to the first floor of the building, where the bottom three feet of drywall had to be removed from all the walls, including the party room and office.

There are no residences on the first floor, Minnella told the Langley Advance Times.

READ ALSO: Flooding closes Hwy. 1 on-ramp at 264th St. in Aldergrove

When a second atmospheric river hit this weekend, residents could see water levels rising in the building’s covered parkade drains, to just below the grates.

They started filling up sandbags and positioning them near entrances, just in case.

Water levels have subsided somewhat, but Minella said residents remain concerned about another surge.

Resident Mavis Chisholm said buildings next to Parkway did not appear to suffer the same kind of severe flooding.

“It’s only us that floods,” Chisholm noted.

“It starts in our basement and car park, from the storm sewer system.”

Chisholm expressed concern about the age of some of the seniors who were filling up and stacking sandbags.

“The average age here is 70 to 75,” Chisholm estimated.

Minnella said the strata council insurance should cover the repairs, but residents will collectively have to pay a $50,000 deductible, which may require dipping into a contingency fund and possibly delay repaving their 30-year-old exterior parking lot.

READ ALSO: Upcoming 3rd atmospheric river could be worst

The second in a series of atmospheric rivers moved into the Lower Mainland on Saturday bringing steady rainfall that began to let up Sunday afternoon.

However, a third atmospheric river, possibly one of even greater intensity, is forecast to arrive on Tuesday.

Provincial Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth warned the upcoming midweek storm could be “the most intense” since heavy flooding first hit B.C. on Nov. 15.

Farmworth advised people along the north, central and south coasts, on Vancouver Island, in Abbotsford and on Sumas Prairie could expect an “extremely volatile situation.”