HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

The bridge repairs took the longest. Bridges at MacDonald Creek, Racing River, and Toad River were severely
damaged, ensuring travel delays and considerable cost in bringing the highway back into service. Work started on the Racing
River bridge on July 5 but was not finished until July 14. Still the washouts did not have the same crippling effect as the
previous year’s. Most travellers were able to return to Watson Lake or Fort Nelson, where they waited for work to be
completed. As well, the Stewart-Cassiar Road remained open, providing travellers with a viable route in and out of the
territory.
By July 3, the highway reopened from Mile 410 south to Fort Nelson and was open between Mile 437 to Watson
Lake “on emergency basis”. Emergency repairs were still being made to portions of the highway. When the Alaska Highway
reopened, initially to cars and small trucks, on July 8, the convoy south from Watson Lake comprised of only 40 vehicles.
The expedition from Fort Nelson, escorted by RCMP cruisers, included 310 cars and vans, 303 campers, 120 towed trailers,
93 motor homes, and a few other vehicles. Repair work was not completed by winter freeze-up, and some of the bridgework
continued through the winter. By May 1976, the highway was back to its pre-flood condition.
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*1) The 1975 flooding proved to be expensive: more than $2 million. (Coates 1992).
October 30-November 4, 1975
Event type: Debris slides.
Precipitation: Tasu Sound (159.0 mm/3 days), October 30-November 1, 1975; Sewell Inlet (289.8 mm/4 days),
October 30-November 2, 1975; Falls River (200.2 mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975; Hartley Bay (227.9
mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975; Kildala (151.6 mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975; Kemano
(177.4 mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975; Falls River (200.2 mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975;
Prince Rupert M. Circ (173.0 mm/4 days), October 30-November 2, 1975; Kitimat Townsite (56.6 mm/1 day), October
30, 1975; Ocean Falls (301.4 mm/4 days), November 1-4, 1975.
Source: The Daily News, October 29 and 30, November 1, 2 and 3, 1975; The Herald, October 29, November 5, 1975;
J. Mekechuck, pers. comm. 1989. CN Railway, Edmonton, Alta.
CNR reported debris slides near Sockeye and Port Edward.
On the Queen Charlotte Islands on November 2, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans reported a large
slope failure on Louise Island. Sewell Inlet recorded 52.3 mm of rain on November 2 and a total of 320.0 mm during
the previous 10 days.
November 10-14, 1975
Event type: Debris slides.
Precipitation: Sewell Inlet (151.9 mm/2 days), November 10-11, 1975; Tasu Sound (174.8 mm/2 days), November 10-
11, 1975; Falls River (141.2 mm/2 days), November 10-11, 1975; Cape St. James (41.9 mm/1 day), November 11,
1975; Kemano (162.5 mm/2 days), November 11-12, 1975; Kildala (115.6 mm/2 days), November 11-12, 1975;
Kitimat Townsite (115.1 mm/2 days) November 11-12, 1975; Terrace (145.5 mm/3 days), November 11-12, 1975;
Bella Coola (184.1 mm/2 days), November 11-13, 1975; Sandspit (109.8 mm/5 days), November 11-15, 1975; Bella
Coola (114.0 mm/1 day), November 12, 1975; Smithers A (37.8 mm/2 days), November 12-13, 1975; Ocean Falls
(220.3 mm/2 days), November 12-13, 1975; Hartley Bay (108.7 mm/2 days), November 13-14, 1975.
Source: The Daily News, November 13, 1975; The Interior News, November 26, 1975.
Between October 5-7 and October 11 and 13, storms with high intensity rainfall occurred on the Queen
Charlotte Islands. Late on November 13. the frontal wave of a storm that originated over the East China Sea on
November 6 deteriorated as it struck the Coast Mountains. On November 12, in the Bear Pass area near Stewart, 100
cm of snow fell in 24 hours.
Between November 10-13, Terrace reported 93.3 cm of mixed rain and snow. Highway 16 between Prince
Rupert-Terrace was closed by a snow and debris slide 12 mi. (19.2 km) west of Terrace. Around midnight November
12-13, a slide came down 16 mi. (25.6 km) west of Terrace, closing Highway 16. The “landslide” dumped over 25 ft.
(7.5 m) of mud, rock, and snow on the highway. It took crews most of the day to clear a single lane for traffic. On
November 12, a heavy snowfall was reported in the Smithers area. According to Smithers BC Hydro director
LaMarre, four hydro poles were knocked down by trees and approximately a dozen conductors knocked out by the
storm.
MacMillan-Bloedel reported slides at Macktush Creek. On November 17, the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans reported that a slide had occurred at Sachs Creek. During the previous 10 days, Sandspit received 134.1 mm of
rain.
March 11, 1976
Event type: Non-fatal snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Williams and Armstrong 1984 (p. 120).
On March 11, a snow avalanche buried one member of a line crew for Ketchikan Public Utilities working on
a mountainside near Ketchikan, Alaska. Dirk Richardson, the victim, was totally buried for 90 minutes. Using his hard
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