HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

October 26-27, 1976; Stewart A (112.7 mm/2 days), October 26-27, 1976; Kemano (158.5 mm/2 days), October 26-27,
1976; Hartley Bay (162.0 mm/3 days), October 26-28, 1976; Ocean Falls (192.0 mm/2 days), October 27-28, 1976.
Source: The Herald, October 27, November 3, 1976; The Daily News, October 27, 1976.
Prince Rupert reported 110 mm of rain in 24 hours with 46-mph (74.0 km/h) winds. Two power transmission
lines were damaged by slides, causing a 24-hour power blackout in Prince Rupert. A mudslide near Oliver Lake took
out three power poles. The slide also stripped part of the hillside from the top of the mountain to across the road 1,500
ft. (450 m) below. The October 29 issue of The Daily News shows a photograph of the slide at Oliver Lake.
In Prince Rupert, the Senior Highschool sustained $5,000 damage. Its basement boiler room was submerged
under 4 ft. (1.2 m) of water. The Kindergarten room in the King Edward Elementary School was flooded. The Seal
Cove School lost two furnaces as a result of water damage. Basements in homes were flooded because of poor
drainage and backed-up runoff ditches. The Mountain View trailer court was flooded with water at “mid calf height.”
The road along the lower areas of the town was under water. On Conrad Street, a small slide occurred in Mrs. Bond’s
yard. Approximately 60 ft. (18 m) of yard, including a reinforced rock and concrete wall, slid down to the street
below.
In Port Edward, a slide cut off the electric power and the main water supply. Parts of Port Edward were
without power on October 26. On October 27, a slide came down just before the Cassiar Cannery, cutting off power to
some 50 people. Falls River reported 447.0 mm in the 10 days between October 25-November 3 (Environment Canada
1991). In Terrace, Spring Creek flooded near Dutch Valley. The water rose above the footbridge just below the
logjam.
November 1-3, 1976
Event type: Flooding and debris slides.
Precipitation: Hartley Bay (101.1 mm/2 days), November 1-2, 1976; Tasu Sound (234.2 mm/3 days), November 1-3,
1976; Sewell Inlet (261.4 mm/3 days), November 1-3, 1976; Falls River (117.1 mm/2 days), November 2-3, 1976;
Prince Rupert M. Circ (129.0 mm/2 days), November 2-3, 1976; Terrace (36.0 mm/2 days), November 2-3, 1976;
Stewart A (153.9 mm/2 days), November 2-3, 1976; Sandspit A (42.2 mm/1 day), November 3, 1976; Prince Rupert
(69.9 mm/1 day), November 3, 1976.
Source: The Daily News, November 3, 4 and 5, 1976; The Sentinel, November 12, 1976.
In Prince Rupert, a heavy rainstorm with over 4 in. (101.6 mm) in 24 hours caused severe erosion and flood
damage. The recently completed Comox Mobile Home Park was flooded with up to 1 ft. (30 cm) of water. An area
covering about 5,000 ft. 2 (465 m 2) , including at least three trailer pads, was under water. On November 3, two debris
slides came down on the Port Edward Cannery Road. One slide happened at Phelan and the second one just north of
the old Inverness Cannery Road.
On November 2, an eastbound freight train hit a rockslide 1 mi. (1.6 km) west of Usk. Ten cars derailed and
one of the three engines went into the Skeena River. There were no injuries.
The Stewart-Meziadin road was closed by extensive flood damage. The bridges across the Hanna and
Tintina creeks were restricted to 50% weight load. In Stewart, the downtown area was flooded with 1 ft. (30 cm) of
water. Many residents had their basements flooded with up to 4 ft. (1.2 m) of water; others had their property
completely inundated.
Between November 1-3, slides occurred in the Rennell Sound area. The weather station at Gospel Point
recorded 197.6 mm of rain in three days. On November 3, MacMillan Bloedel reported about 10 slides at Dinan Bay.
The weather station at Sewall Masset Inlet recorded 17.8 mm of rain in the previous 24 hours and a total of 138.7 mm
during the previous 10 days. On November 3, Crown Forest Products reported a slide near Sandspit. During the
previous 24 hours, Sandspit had recorded 42.2 mm of rain and a total of 141.7 mm during the previous 10 days.
December 1976
Event type: Slide potential.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, December 4 and 16, 1976.
On December 3, BC Hydro chairman Robert Bonner reported that an enormous slide, 80 % bigger than the
Downie slide on the Columbia River, was creeping into the reservoir behind the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. BC Hydro
engineers noted that “safety cannot be guaranteed.” According to Larry Peterson of Fort St. John, spokesman for the
Peace Valley Environmental Association and speaking for concerned Peace River farmers, the Brantham Ridge slide,
located above a failure zone 20 mi. (32 km) upstream from the dam, contains an estimated 1.8 billion cubic yards (1.38
billion m 3 ) of material. *1)
Peterson said that the situation was particularly critical in view of BC Hydro’s intention to divert the
McGregor River from the Fraser drainage system to flow north into 410,000-ac. (164,000 ha) Williston Lake. The
McGregor diversion would put 20% more water in the reservoir and add to the pressure on the slide area. *2)
A report by the hydro-electric design division, dated July, 1974, said that the monitoring of the unstable
Brantham Ridge area showed the slide, which extends for 4 mi. (6.4 km) along the shore of Williston Lake, had moved
2 ft. (60 cm) closer to the reservoir since 1968.
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