OLIVER, B.C. — A landslide in southern British Columbia that struck several homes with a massive wall of mud, rocks and debris does not appear to have claimed any lives, officials confirmed late Sunday.
Allan Patton, regional director with the District of Okanagan-Similkameen, said searchers have accounted for all the residents who it’s believed were living in the homes affected.
“Somebody might be walking a dog or something that we don’t know about, but as far as the residents in the area are (concerned), there’s no issues there, nobody’s been hurt,” Patton told The Canadian Press.
Damage estimates varied wildly in the hours after the slide hit, but RCMP said approximately five homes were struck at about 2:20 p.m. local time near Testalinden Creek, just south of Oliver, B.C.
Patton said the homes that were hit were destroyed.
“Walls down, unsalvageable.”
James Cambridge, a 46-year-old area resident, described seeing a wall of mud suddenly racing down the hill toward his home.
“Something let go up in the hills and this wall of mud came roaring down and took out our shop and buried a couple of cars on our property,” he said.
“The roar was deafening. When we left, there were still trees going over (Highway) 97.”
Patton said that deafening noise may have given residents just enough of a warning to get out.
“I’ve heard that there was a warning, but it was only a five-minute warning and it was basically just friends phoning friends,” he said.
“People who live in the area saw it coming and then started phoning their friends and neighbours.”
He said between 25 and 30 homes neighbouring the slide area were put on evacuation alert.
RCMP said a mountain slope on the western side of the valley gave out, destroying several homes and structures before burying the highway and spilling into the creek. The highway was buried in up to four metres of mud.
RCMP said Environment Ministry officials were assessing the situation Sunday night and the cause of the slide.
Patton said now that district officials have confirmed the safety of area residents, the next phase can begin.
“Now we’ve moved from making sure people are OK to getting things back in working order and cleaning up messes,” he said.
“A lot of it has to do with the orchards and vineyards and farms that have been affected. What happens there? They’re just basically toast for this year, I think.”
But not all orchard owners were devastated Sunday’s events.
Patton said he spoke with one man whose home was still standing, though the rest of his property was covered in mud.
“He’s feeling pretty happy. His house is intact and his family’s healthy, so that’s his main concern,” he said.
While too early to know what exactly triggered the slide, Patton said the area has been hit by heavy rain of late.
“We had more rain than we’re used to,” he said.
“It’s obviously accumulated and (Testalinden) Creek has deep canyons, and potentially there was some debris that backed up and created a dam. But that’s really just speculation at this point.”
Oliver Mayor Pat Hampson said the highway would be closed indefinitely.
As he looked out on the damage the slide had caused, Hampson said he’d never seen anything quite like it.
“It’s pretty hard to describe something like that,” he said.
An emergency operations centre for evacuated residents was set up in Oliver, which is located in B.C.’s Okanagan region about 400 kilometres east of Vancouver.
Patton said 10 people had registered at the centre by late Sunday. He said whatever help area residents need, they’ll get.
“We’ve got a great community,” he said.
Landslides are not uncommon in mountainous B.C., but most often come down from remote slopes or, at worst, across highways.
Five years ago, heavy rains triggered a mudslide in North Vancouver, B.C., that killed one woman in her home. Her husband was pulled out of the mud and debris by neighbours and survived.
- By Sunny Dhillon in Vancouver