HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

efore impacting the embankment. It then proceeded another 30 ft. up the embankment before rolling over on the
passenger side in a boulder-filled ditch. Both occupants were wearing seatbelts and escaped serious injuries.
November 7-9, 1989
Event type: Flooding and debris slides.
Precipitation: Falls River (49.8 mm/1 day), November 7, 1989; Hartley Bay (108.2 mm/2 days), November 7-8, 1989;
Kildala (63.5 mm/2 days), November 7-8, 1989; Kemano (68.6 mm/2 days), November 7-8, 1989; Pallant Creek (85.4
mm/2 days), November 7-8, 1989; Bella Coola (68.2 mm/2 days), November 8-9, 1989.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, November 10 and 13, 1989; The Province, November 12, 1989; Terrace Review,
November 15, 1989; Memo T. Wilson (Fisheries Officer Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Central Coast) to
District Supervisor, Prince Rupert; Eero Karanka, pers. comm. February 21, 1994. Habitat Biologist, Department of
Fisheries and Oceans, Prince Rupert; Nesbitt-Porter 1989 (p. 15).
On November 7 and 8, torrential rains and near gale force winds occurred throughout southwestern British
Columbia. The extremely heavy rainfall resulted in localised flooding in many areas. In the Bella Coola valley, the
flooding was limited to the tributaries of the Bella Coola River. Flooding on the Salloompt River caused damage to
two homes. (Nesbitt-Porter 1989).
Flooding of Wannock River forced the evacuation of the tiny Rivers Inlet Indian village of Oweekeno. The
flooding originated from swollen creeks behind the village, rather than an actual overflow of the Wannock River. On
November 7, a Comox-based Canadian Forces Labrador helicopter rescued 15 women and children. They were flown
to Port Hardy where provincial emergency services housed them in a hotel. Late on November 9, flooding at
Oweekeno had subsided, and there was no apparent danger to the 35 residents that remained behind. Other women and
children remained at Rivers Inlet with most of the village men and 12 employees from a nearby logging camp.
Oweekeno Village also suffered severe damage during a debris flow event on the morning of November 9. It
started with a major landslide in the headwaters of the creek passing through the village. *1) The flow covered the
upper part of the fan above the village with large boulders and timber, destroying stands of mature forest. It deposited
large amounts of debris, sand, silt and gravel in a fan 600 yds. (540 m) wide through the village and into the Wannock
River. The watertank and one house north of the forestry road were destroyed by rapidly moving debris. Heavy
floodwaters charged with finer debris and timber passed through the village and damaged several houses. The storm
caused three large debris avalanches and numerous minor ones in the immediate vicinity of Oweekeno Village. Within
the 12-km 2 area representing the lower slopes of drainages immediately adjacent to the community, 18 large slope
failures occurred on unlogged terrain. The local intensity of slope failures was as high as seven events per km 2 . The
largest debris avalanche triggered the debris flow that hit the community. It was 200 m wide, 420 m long, covered
42,000 m 2 , and had a volume of 30,000 m 3 (Hungr and Smith 1990). The storm may have had a return period of 40
years or more for the Rivers Inlet area. This debris avalanche-debris slide was among the largest of similar events
observed in the area, and its return period was probably considerably longer than 40 years (Hungr and Smith 1990).
The water level in Owikeno Lake reached approximately 14 ft. (4.2 m). *2) The numerous slides along the
shore from the second narrows to the head of the lake caused heavy silting of the water. Turbidity and water colour
indicated that all beach spawning might have been unsuccessful. An estimated 40,000 Chinook eggs were lost. At
Shotbolt Bay, a debris torrent destroyed the Shotbolt Hatchery facility. Of the 350,000 fry being reared, all but 50,000
were lost. The Kilbella River bridge above the logjam at 9 mile was destroyed. The logjam itself opened up, giving
access to the upper river. Numerous small slides and flooding of the river washed out the Chuckwalla Main Line at
several locations. Three major debris torrents entering from the east side of the river deposited large amounts of
organic debris into the river. This severely impacted the fishery resource. A large 300-ft. (90 m) wide slide near the
estuary of McNair Creek blocked the stream with debris, stumps and broken trees. The creek appeared heavily
scoured, and another slide may have come down further upstream. A 250-ft. (75 m) wide and 20-ft. (6 m) deep slide
near the lower Nekite River came down and blocked the road. The bridge above the Nekite spawning channel was
destroyed. The main stem of the river overflowing the intake heavily silted the top one-quarter of the Nekite spawning
channel. Near the mouth of Smokehouse Creek a slide occurred.
The severe storm knocked out large sections of BC Hydro powerline in the Nass valley Power to several
locations along the Nass and Bulkley valleys was restored after a few hours. The BC Hydro powerline between the
Nass Valley-Kincolith at the mouth of the Nass River was damaged. The about 400 residents of the remote Native
Indian village were left without power for several days. *3) Along a 20-km corridor, falling trees and mudslides
downed 31 powerline spans and six hydro poles. Due to weather conditions, helicopters were unable to reach
Kincolith, which can only be reached by water or air. Kincolith residents, left without power from November 7 until
the afternoon of November 12, lost much of their reserves of frozen fish and game. Fifteen linemen with three
helicopters were involved in repairing the damage estimated at $45,000.
Around November 10, a Stewart logging truck driver was killed near Meziadin when his vehicle drove into a
rockslide (Terrace Review, November 15, 1989).
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