HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

The basement of the Lee Bethurem store flooded to within a few inches from the floor. The lighting plant at
the Shackleton Hotel had to be elevated to keep it out of the water. Several residents were forced to leave their homes.
On June 19 the waters started to recede. The Ferry across the Skeena at Hazelton was carried downstream to Ritchie on
June 19. A few days later it floated further down and got hung up at Pacific.
On the morning of June 19 the Braun’s Island bridge went out. Using his boat, Frank Floyd improvised a
temporary ferry service. On the same day, the motorboat belonging to J. Agar was carried away by the floodwaters.
On June 19, the Dannauer bridge at Copper City was endangered. Men worked all day to keep the drift cleared away,
saving the structure. A big logjam formed on the upriver side of the Skeena bridge at Terrace. The old Copper City
Road and the Remo road on the south side of the river were flooded in places. Buildings at the old ferry landing were
flooded. On June 20, four younger children of the Hamer family were evacuated.
October 29-31, 1931
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Ocean Falls (211.8 mm/3 days), October 29-31, 1931.
Source: The Daily News, November 2, 1931; Evening Empire, November 4, 1931; The Informer, November 20, 1976;
Ramsey 1971 (p. 133).
On October 29, heavy rain near Terrace caused flooding on Hatchery (Granite) Creek. The staff at the
Lakelse Hatchery had to work throughout the night of October 29-30 to protect the hatchery from being swept away.
Additional help from Terrace was required.
During the gale on October 31-November 1, two large Davis rafts from the Queen Charlotte Islands broke
adrift from their moorings at Captain’s Cove. The cribs which contained some 3 million ft. (84,900 m 3 ) of logs were
found three days later about 5 mi. (8 km) west of Captain’s Cove.
According to Erik Gustav Herman, long-time resident of Ocean Falls, on Halloween night 1931 was the
worst disaster in Ocean Falls. “Everything washed out, the bridge and the fire hall went. There was an apartment
beside the fire hall; all the people had to be evacuated.” (Herman In: The Informer, November 20, 1976).
The level of Link Lake rose to an alarming height and the only thing to avoid a catastrophe was to open all
13 taintor gates. With a roar, the wall of water rushed down to the waterfront, taking with it parts of the railway
system. In a wild disarray it jammed against the bridge and threatened to cut the millsite off from the townsite.
Against appalling conditions, gangs of men went to work to free the jam, while others went about evacuating
people and equipment from threatened areas. On the townsite side, the riverbank was washed away, endangering one
of the old bunkhouses and threatening the firehall, the foreman’s bunkhouse and the dentists’ office. Around No. 1
powerhouse, considerable erosion damage was done. (Ramsey 1971).
January 4-6, 1932
Event type: Rain-on-snow and snow avalanches.
Precipitation: Stewart (142.0 mm/3 days), January 4-6, 1932; Falls River (141.2 mm/2 days), January 5-6, 1932;
Aiyansh (44.5 mm/1 day), January 6, 1932.
Source: The Stewart News, January 8, 1932.
In early January, Stewart experienced one of the heaviest snowfalls in some years. The snowfall was
followed by heavy rain. Several small snowslides came down between the town and the dock. Traffic was temporarily
blocked in nearly all directions. A considerable number of men were employed by the U.S. Government, Crawford
Transfer Co., the Premier Gold Mining Co., and Big Missouri to make the Salmon River road passable. Late on
January 7, the road was passable for sleighs as far as the Texas Creek bridge. From that point on for about 2 mi. (3.2
km), where the road is cut out of the steep mountainside, masses of snow had sloughed into it. The road was not
expected to be reopened until January 10. Local officials of the Public Works Department had problems opening the
road to the unemployment camps, some 17 mi. (27.2 km) up the Bear Valley. The Northern B.C. Power Co. was
working with increased staff practically around the clock all week to maintain its service. Heavy wet snow was a
constant threat to wires and poles.
January 22-25, 1932
Event type: Severe storm.
Precipitation: Bella Coola (156.3 mm/3 days), January 22-24, 1932; Swanson Bay (209.3 mm/3 days), January 22-24,
1932; Falls River (147.3 mm/2 days), January 23-24, 1932; Queen Charlotte City (126.0 mm/2 days), January 23-24,
1932; Ocean Falls (110.7 mm/2 days), January 23-24; Stewart (119.4 mm/3 days), January 23-25, 1932; Terrace (50.8
mm/1 day), January 24, 1932.
Source: The Daily News, January 25, 1932; Evening Empire, January 22 and 25, 1932; The Stewart News, January 29,
1932.
On the night of January 23-24, Prince Rupert was hit by a southeast gale with torrential rain. Power and
telephone lines in the city were damaged, causing power and telephone interruptions. On January 24, the telephone
line between the city and Digby Island was out for a few hours. The storm caused minor damage along the waterfront.
Some boats at the dry dock and fisheries floats were damaged. The fishing vessel Sileen, (formerly the Ellen Wing) of
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