HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia
HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia
1 Introduction 2 Scope 3 Information reliability 4 Organization of storm events 5 Community flooding and landslide archive CONTENTS 6 Chronological list of flooding and landslide events Appendices 1 Geographical index by rivers, creeks and lakes. 2 Geographical index by community. 3 Reported fatalities caused by slope failures and snow avalanches in northern British Columbia. Literature cited 2
1 Introduction Weather is one of the most common topics of conversation. Landslides, snow avalanches and flooding events may have devastating impacts on property and can result in the loss of human life. A clear understanding of the magnitude and frequency of landslides, flooding and storm events may help in project planning, emergency planning and risk assessment. Thus the importance of storms, which create such events, will be of interest to a wide audience ranging from emergency measure planners and foresters to engineers and historians. 2 Scope Historical information on weather events and their impacts is scattered throughout many different sources, including newspapers, technical reports and streamflow records. The intent of this report is to produce a chronological list of flooding and landslide events in the northern part of British Columbia. The area covered is north of a straight line running from Bella Bella in the west over Williams Lake and Blue River to the Rocky Mountains in the east. Some weather events causing fatalities in the adjacent Alaska panhandle have been included in the report. 3 Information reliability News coverage of extreme storm events and subsequent damage may vary considerably in detail and accuracy. Although an effort has been made to be as accurate and complete as possible, the chronological list of such events contained in this report is far from complete. In a report with a time span and geographic area like this, many storm and flood events will have been missed. Terminology used to describe mass wasting events often also varies widely in newspaper accounts. No effort has been made to confirm the correctness of the terms used in the original reports. Also as little as possible was changed in the original reporting. Eyewitness accounts and many reported cases of “worst flooding on record” are all in quotation marks by the author. Such information must be taken at face value. The historical detail contained in this report is strictly raw data without any analysis of the events. Consequently, this information is only as good as originally reported. Thus all the details and quotations must stand on their own merit, without benefit of the author’s analysis or comment. Unless stated otherwise, damage amounts are in dollar values of the time of the event. 4. Organization of storm events All damage causing events are organised chronologically starting with the ca. 1820 event and ending with a storm event on December 18-19, 2006. Some extreme wind and snow storm events have also been included even though they did not cause flooding or landslide damage. For information for a specific watercourse or community, refer to Appendix 1 and 2, respectively. A chronological list of some of the reported fatalities caused by slope failures and snow avalanches in northern British Columbia can be found in Appendix 3. 5. Community flooding and landslide archive Personal memories, diaries, newspaper articles all contain valuable information on historical storm and flood events. Many such events have been recorded while others only remain in the memories of those affected. This local knowledge may also make this report and thus flood warnings more accurate and help planners in future flood prevention measures. Additional information about any missed events can be send to the author’s address at P.O. Box 1000, Whaletown, BC - V0P 1Z0. 6. Chronological list of flooding and landslide events Ca. 1820 Event type: Rockslide. Precipitation: Not applicable. Source: Morice 1904; Evans (unpublished data) (p. 7). 3
- Page 1: Flooding and Landslide Events North
- Page 5 and 6: Precipitation: Port Simpson (198.4
- Page 7 and 8: In interviews conducted in 1985, Mo
- Page 9 and 10: 1989), which is about one third of
- Page 11 and 12: On December 9, Prince Rupert report
- Page 13 and 14: The flood indirectly damaged the Un
- Page 15 and 16: channel. This it obtains across the
- Page 17 and 18: Due to the heavy snowstorm in Stewa
- Page 19 and 20: oom on the top floor of the residen
- Page 21 and 22: *1) The highest mark recorded durin
- Page 23 and 24: the Royal Fish Co., moored at the d
- Page 25 and 26: Source: The Daily News, November 13
- Page 27 and 28: River after floodwaters completely
- Page 29 and 30: Around Smithers, several days of mi
- Page 31 and 32: Exceptionally heavy rains and wind
- Page 33 and 34: saved were the canned goods. Some f
- Page 35 and 36: Flood damage also occurred in the B
- Page 37 and 38: Muddy Gulch and the terminal, the B
- Page 39 and 40: ewildered with the speed with which
- Page 41 and 42: second pier and the span on the Haz
- Page 43 and 44: Source: The Interior News, March 8,
- Page 45 and 46: Ministry of Transportation and High
- Page 47 and 48: January 15-19, 1947 Event type: Sno
- Page 49 and 50: Precipitation: Not applicable. Sour
- Page 51 and 52: ft. (0.6-1.2 m). At Mile 62.5, wash
1 Introduction<br />
2 Scope<br />
3 Information reliability<br />
4 Organization <strong>of</strong> storm events<br />
5 Community flooding and landslide archive<br />
CONTENTS<br />
6 Chronological list <strong>of</strong> flooding and landslide events<br />
Appendices<br />
1 Geographical index by rivers, creeks and lakes.<br />
2 Geographical index by community.<br />
3 Reported fatalities caused by slope failures and snow avalanches in northern <strong>British</strong> <strong>Columbia</strong>.<br />
Literature cited<br />
2
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