HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

At 1.3 km, the landslide transformed into a debris flow transporting mainly forest debris. At 2.2 km, debris
entered an incised stream and carried down a further 1.8 km to Harold Price Creek. Debris jammed over a 150-m
stretch of the creek and resulted in re-routing the stream. A debris flood carried logs an additional 3.5 km downstream
to a sharp corner, leaving a debris pile inundation about 100 m onto the floodplain. Of the initial landslide only a minor
amount of rock and debris appear to have been transported to Harold Price Creek. The main constituents of the
channelised debris flow entering the creek were trees and forest debris. The distance traveled by the rock avalanchedebris
flow was 4 km to Harold Price Creek with an elevation drop of 700 m, an overall slope gradient of 10 o . Slope
gradient in the depletion zone was about 34 o , dropping to 17 o in the middle zone and 7 o in the zone of the channelised
debris flow.
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*1) A deep till blanket covers the Harold Price valley below 1,450 m (Schwab et al. 2003).
September 2002
Event type: Mudslides and dam burst flooding.
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Daily News, September 18 and 19, 2002; Dolphin, January 2003.
Late on September 18, in Prince Rupert flooding threatened the Mountainview Trailer Park. Floodwaters up
to 3 ft. (90 cm) deep were lapping at the front doors. Slides hit roads and power was cut for varying periods up to six
hours to about a quarter of the city. The power was off throughout Port Simpson, in most of Digby Island and half of
Metlakatla. On September 18 at 7 a.m., Port Simpson lost power for more than a day.
Near Oliver Lake, an “impressive” mudslide came down. Another slide came down near Mountainview
Trailer Park. On Mount Hays, a transmission tower went out and slides on Wantage Road just past the city yard took
out two BC Hydro distribution lines. Wantage Road was closed off and a search was activated for a reported overdue
vehicle.
In September, heavy rain caused a beaver dam above the Prince Rupert ferry terminal to break. The road
approaching the terminal was flooded. At the same time the dam broke, a slide knocked out the fibre optics cable and
interrupted power and the computerised system for more than five hours. Luckily, no sailings were scheduled at the
time and service was uninterrupted.
December 12, 2002
Event type: Debris slide.
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, December 17, 2002; CBC newscast December 16, 2002.
On December 12, a landslide wiped out two poles of powerline into the First Nations reserve community of
Kitkatla. Due to storms and high winds, hydro repair crews were unable to fly in by helicopter. Temporary repairs
were estimated not completed before December 17. *1) On the morning of December 16, two helicopters with repair
crews had landed at the slide area and began laying emergency cables. Bad weather, however, forced the eight-person
crew to fly back to Prince Rupert at 11:30 a.m. The storm, which started pounding the north coast on December 12,
produced fierce winds reaching up to 70 km/h on December16.
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*1) Power outages are an annual problem in the isolated community of 500 about 75 km south of Prince Rupert. This
was the fourth time this year the power had been out in Kitkatla (The Vancouver Sun, December 17, 2002).
December 28, 2002
Event type: Fatal snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: CBC newscast December 29, 2002.
On the afternoon of December 28, two Alberta snowmobilers got caught in an avalanche south of
Valemount. One of the victims was killed.
October 25-27, 2003
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Province, October 29, 2003; The Daily News, October 31, 2003; Ministry of Environment files; CBC
newscasts October 27-28, 2003.
On October 26, flooding was reported from Greenville in the Nass Valley. Several days of heavy rain caused
washed out roads and cut communication lines in northwestern British Columbia. On October 25, the Nisga’a
communities of Kincolith and Greenville lost power due to a break in the line. Due to fog, BC Hydro crews were
unable to reach the break on October 26. Power was restored to the two communities on October 28.
On October 26, road to Kincolith just completed this year, washed out at No Name Creek, 35 km west of
New Aiyansh, cutting off Kincolith and Greenville. A bridge was washed out and hard to be replaced. Tentative
reopening date for the road was November 5. The fishing vessel Ocean Virtue brought in supplies. A Prince Rupert-
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