HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

The flood indirectly damaged the Union Steamship Company Camosun when the vessel hit submerged
wreckage believed to be a tree stump. The vessel had to be towed back to Vancouver with a stripped propeller and bent
shafts. (The Daily Province, October 22, 1917).
October 28-November 19, 1917
Event type: Rain-on-snow flooding.
Precipitation: Ikeda Bay (1062.6 mm/23 days), October 28-November 19, 1917; Swanson Bay (2395.2 mm/25 days),
October 28-November 21, 1917; Prince Rupert (517.7 mm/21 days), October 30-November 19, 1917; Masset (438.4
mm/20 days), October 21/November 19, 1917; Queen Charlotte City (72.1 mm/1 day), October 31, 1917; Bella Coola
(183.9 mm/3 days), November 2-4, 1917; Anyox (119.4 mm/1 day), November 6, 1917; Anyox (476.0 mm/10 days),
November 12-21, 1917; Ikeda Bay (414.5 mm/6 days), November 13-18, 1917; Stewart (246.2 mm/6 days), November
15-20, 1917; Bella Coola (130.0 mm/3 days), November 20-22, 1917.
Source: The Daily News, October 31, November 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 20, 21, 1917; The Evening Empire, November 5, 6,
9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 29, December 1, 1917; Interior News, November 3 and 24,
1917; The Omineca Herald, November 2, 9, 16 and 23, 1917; The Alaska Daily Empire, November 22, 1917; Moeran
1923 (pp. 206-208); Pincock 1951; Wicks 1976; Phillips 1990 (p. 64); Environment Canada, Meteorological Branch,
Monthly Record; C.C. Perry (Indian Agent, Nass Agency), Diary entries for November 5, 8,16 and 26, 1917.
Provincial Archives, Victoria; Letter No. 592, December 20, 1917. C.C. Perry to Ass. Deputy and Secretary Dept. of
Indian Affairs, Ottawa. Provincial Archives, Victoria.
In the fall, continuous wet and stormy weather caused heavy damage all along the coast, including the
Alaska panhandle and the interior. On November 17, Swanson Bay, south of Prince Rupert, recorded 10.6 in. (268.2
mm) of rain in 24 hours (Pincock 1951). In November 1917, Swanson Bay also set the Canadian record of the greatest
precipitation in one month with 2,235.5 mm of rain (Phillips 1990). Terrace received over 5 in. (127 mm) of rain
between November 1-5 and Anyox reported rain and snow for weeks. According to The Omineca Herald, the rain had
been general for the previous two months. The rivers and streams were even higher than the highest mark reached in
the big spring flood of 1893 (1894?). The Skeena River reached “levels higher than any white man could remember.”
It was reported to have reached its highest level since 1894, covering Haysport with debris. The river did not start
dropping until November 22.
The Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) was tied up because the rail line between Prince Rupert-Smithers was
heavily damaged. High waters of the Skeena River washed out and damaged a couple of bridges. Slides and washouts
blocked traffic between Kitwanga-Prince Rupert for several weeks. Passengers for Prince Rupert and other coastal
points had to travel by way of Prince George and Vancouver. A landslide along the railroad at Kwinitsa also took the
telegraph line down. Other slides occurred 15 mi. (24 km) east of Prince Rupert and several debris slides 30 mi. (48
km) east of Inverness. There were a total of four slides within 100 mi. (160 km) of Prince Rupert. A passenger train
got caught between two slides. Washouts occurred at Pacific and elsewhere along the Skeena River. Around
November 5, the pilings of the Kitsumkalum railroad bridge were loosened, interrupting the rail traffic.
On November 13 at 11 p.m., a large debris slide came down at Inverness. It covered the track for 600 ft.
(180 m) and was 40 ft. (12 m) deep. It wiped out the telegraph line for six pole lengths. The S.S. Prince Albert took
passengers, luggage, and mail to the Sunnyside Cannery, just east of Inverness, to meet the eastbound train. The ship
also took the westbound passengers, luggage, and mail back to Prince Rupert. On November 23, the slide was cleared
by two steamshovels working on both ends. Hundreds of men from the coast to Jasper were employed to repair the
damage. Rail traffic was resumed on December 1.
The slide that came down at Inverness also hit the Inverness Cannery. The messhouse, bunkhouses and the
accountant’s residence and other property were damaged. Fortunately the cannery was closed for the season. Some
residents had just left for Prince Rupert that evening. One man asleep in the caretaker’s cabin escaped unharmed by
cutting a hole in the roof (Wicks 1976).
Heavy damage also occurred elsewhere. In Prince Rupert a house on 1st Avenue and the Port Edward
shingle mill were blown down. The Bella Coola area sustained heavy damage due to flooding. The Kitsault River
came up high and threatened Alice Arm.
The Nass Valley flooded to a depth of 10-24 ft. (3-8 m), wiping out the village of Aiyansh. The flooding
there was due to a natural logjam. It caused a heavy loss of livestock and property damage. Some of the houses
floated away and the residents moved 2 mi. (3.2 km) upstream to Gitlakdamiks (New Aiyansh). The Indian Agent,
C.C. Perry, described the situation as follows: “For 66 consecutive days rain storms continued, with devastating
winds. Unprecedented Nass River flood did considerable damage to Aiyansh and Gitlakdamiks reserve....” (Perry,
diary entry of November 26, 1917). The weather in November had been “... the worst known in 50 years. Floods have
been widespread and their effects have been serious in some of the reserves, particularly on the Nass River. The
village of Aiyansh has been breached in two places ... all the Indians’ cattle and horses were drowned... the potato crop
and hay have been washed away.... Many of the houses were carried away bodily. Gravestones were washed out from
the graveyard and piled up with fences and other debris in the village ... at Lak-alzap (Greenville) and at Gwinoha the
villages have suffered severely... the three villages will amalgamate and the Nass Indian centre will be Gitlakdamiks
where the ground is higher.” (C.C. Perry, letter December 20, 1917). Moeran (1923) described the flood in his
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