HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

the Royal Fish Co., moored at the dry dock, sustained minor damage. The Prince Rupert garage moved 3 ft. (90 cm)
and was wrecked, while Rothwell’s garage and others were damaged. The plate glass window of the Fraser & Payne
store on 3rd Avenue was smashed.
Recent heavy snow near Stewart closed the Premier Gold mine road between Mile 9-13, making the mine
accessible only by aerial tram.
Near Juneau, Alaska, a big snowslide was reported from the Snowslide Gulch. The slide, which measured a
length of 250 ft. (75 m) and a height of 15 ft. (4.5 m), came down on the Thane Road.
February 20-26, 1932
Event type: Snow avalanches.
Precipitation: Stewart (144.8 mm/3 days), February 20-22, 1932; Aiyansh (108.4 mm/4 days), February 20-23, 1932;
Ocean Falls (543.0 mm/6 days), February 21-26, 1932; Namu (127.0 mm/1day), February 22, 1932; Falls River (222.2
mm/4 days), February 22-25, 1932.
Source: The British Columbian, February 22, 1932; The Stewart News, February 26, 1932.
Stewart experienced the “most severe snowstorm in the memory of some of the oldest residents.” Between
the morning of February 21 and the evening of February 23, some 5 ft. (1.5 m) of dry snow fell on 4 ft. (1.2 m) of
already packed snow. The dry snow would not pack, and was hard to remove, resulting in trails and roads blocked in
all directions. Many slides occurred in the area.
During the night of February 22, the Silverado slide came down. The slide, which moved thousands of tons
of snow, came from an elevation of at least 5,000 ft. (1,500 m). For the first time since about February 5, 1910, it
swept straight over the foot of the mountain, wiping out the Mill Power Plant of the Northern B.C. Power Co. This
plant was recently partially destroyed by a fire. The toe of the large pile of snow was about 600 ft. (180 m) out beyond
the plant. The winds caused by the slide must have been terrific. Pieces of the intake flume and other remnants were
said to have been blown as much as 1,000 ft. (300 m) out onto the flat near the bottom of the hill. Striking salt water at
the foot of the mountain, the slide reportedly sent a wave across the bay, striking Hyder, Alaska, much like a small
tidal wave.
On February 22, the road between Stewart and the dock was kept open with difficulty, but the next day it
was completely blocked with slides. Government crews, assisted by volunteers from the Crawford Transfer, Rennie &
Young, and independent freighters, worked for two days to clear the road. Late on February 24, it was reopened, but
the heavy rains, which started on the previous evening, made the road nearly impassable. The heavy snowfall blocked
oil transportation between the dock and the Dunwell power plant. Precautionary measures were taken to guard against
a possible shortage of oil at the Dunwell plant. The Northern B.C. Power Company closed the Dunwell power plant
from midnight to 7 a.m. until the roads reopened to allow the usual supply of oil to reach Dunwell.
Around February 20, snowslides buried bunkhouses and three men at the Jumbo mine near Wrangell, Alaska.
The slide left one man dead while the condition of the others entombed with him are unknown (The British Columbian,
February 22, 1932).
August 18-21, 1932
Event type: Glacial outburst flood.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Kerr 1936 (p. 4 and pp. 16-18).
Starting around August 18, a large flood, caused by the sudden draining of a lake, swept down the Talsekwe
Valley. *1) The water continued to rise steadily until the morning of August 21. By this time it filled the valley about
1 mi. (1.6 km) wide, from wall to wall. In the old channels where the depth had been 1-2 ft. (30-60 cm), it was now 5-
6 ft. (1.5 to 1.8 m) the current was 10-15 mph (16-24 km/h). The water shot from an aperture in the lower end of the
glacier, which was afterwards found to be some 75 ft. (22.5 m) wide and 50 ft. (15 m) high, cutting partly in the glacier
ice and partly in the gravel below. Its force rolled down the valley in a series of huge combers, sweeping with it blocks
of ice up to 20 ft. (6 m) in diameter and huge boulders. Large numbers of mature trees were swept away and the river
was filled with huge cottonwood trees up to 100 ft. (30 m) in length.
At the junction with the Taku River the waters of the latter were backed up for miles. At Tulsequah, about
0.5 mi. (800 m) above the junction, the Taku River rose many feet above normal high water levels. During the
morning of August 21, the waters started to drop. During the flood many changes took place. Old channels were
completely gone, and new channels up to 15 ft. (4.5 m) in depth had been cut in the coarsest gravels. Forested islands
completely disappeared, and large piles of logs and newly uprooted trees were scattered everywhere (Kerr 1936). Near
Tulsequah Chief landing, the river broke out of its channel, cutting through a wooded area into the lower Shazah
Valley. Most of the water started flowing into the former channel of Shazah Creek, leaving this creek dammed above
its mouth. As a result, Shazah Creek became lake-like above its mouth, with the possibility of a large lake forming
(Kerr 1948).
---------------------------
23