Digging out continues at Fairmont Hot Springs, B.C., northeast of Cranbrook, where a mudslide struck on Sunday afternoon.
Red Deer Advocate city editor Carolyn Martindale was among vacationers who saw mud, water and debris slam into the resort Fairmont Mountainside Villas.
“They’ve got just an army of bulldozers and dump trucks moving around earth and rock,” said Martindale on Tuesday.
She arrived at the resort with Cameron Fairbairn, of Lacombe, and his mother Claire Fairbairn, 91, shortly after the mudslide struck.
Martindale said resort management told her 400 dump trucks full of rock and debris were removed from the site as of Tuesday morning.
“We got a $33 car wash today. It was a lot of mud,” Martindale said about their vehicle that was stuck in mud on top of debris, but doesn’t appear to have been damaged.
They fled their condo on foot to a nearby recreation centre. Muddy water and debris quickly turned into a river and swept away their SUV.
Road access to a nearby RV park, where 500 people were trapped, was restored on Monday afternoon.
No one was hurt during the mudslide.
Martindale and her companions continue to stay at the resort and more people have moved back into the resort.
She said even though the resort’s golf course is closed, visitors can’t resist using the greens to practise their putting.