HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

Source: The Stewart News, August 24 and 31, September 7, 1934.
In Stewart, high water caused a drastic change in the course of the Bear River near the mouth. By August
24, approximately 100 ac. (40 ha) had already been washed out. The barn of Stewart Cartage and a number of other
buildings were endangered. Provincial Public Works Road Foreman H. McDonald had two tractors and a crew of men
hauling spruce trees in an effort to turn the current. At the time of starting this work, the railway grade above the
trestle had been washed away. It would soon have permitted the whole river to come through at that point and sweep
through 2 nd Street. The Board of Trade made efforts to get necessary action before it was too late.
October 7-11, 1934
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Terrace (83.8 mm/3 days), October 7-9, 1934; Swanson Bay (263.4 mm/4 days), October 7-10, 1934;
Falls River (121.5 mm/2 days), October 8-9, 1934; Ocean Falls (203.7 mm/2 days), October 8-9, 1934; Kitimat
Mission (208.2 mm/4 days), October 8-11, 1934; Bella Coola (126.7 mm/2 days), October 9-10, 1934. Namu (125.8
mm/2 days), October 10-11, 1934.
Source: The Omineca Herald, October 10 and 17, 1934; The Terrace News, October 10, 1934; Vancouver Daily
Province, November 12 and 15, 1934; The Daily News, October 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1934; Evening Empire, October 9
and 12, 1934; The Interior News, October 10, 1934; The Daily Alaska Empire, October 11, 1934; The Vancouver Sun,
October 12, 1934; The Victoria Daily Times, October 12, 1934; The Vancouver Daily Province, October 12 and 15,
1934; Kopas 1970 (p. 272); Tempest 1974.
The Terrace-Hazelton area experienced the “heaviest rainstorm in the district for a long time.” The
Kitsequecla River bridge at Skeena Crossing was undermined and made unsafe for crossing. The Bulkley Valley
experienced several days of heavy rain. The rains were described as “heavy and most protracted of the earliest arrivals
here.” As a result, roads were in very bad shape.
Heavy rains throughout the interior caused severe flooding on the Bella Coola River. The rain started
October 4, falling steadily until October 10. The large flood washed out many of the bridges and destroyed much of the
road. Department of Public Works engineer Swan reported at the time that this was the “largest flood in 60 years.”
(Tempest 1974) The flooding started on October 9. Soon the river changed course running down the main highway
from Bella Coola to the Interior. *1)
Bella Coola was isolated after all bridges were demolished between Bella Coola-Hagensborg and the road
washed out over a distance of 4 mi. (6.4 km). The flooding damaged Colony Hall, the community hall. The Bella
Coola River diverted its course when it started flowing along the main highway, and several bridges were lost. Miles
of open land were reported under water.
Hagensborg, where the river flooded an entire section of the valley, was hardest hit. Many residents of
Hagensborg were evacuated when the town was isolated by the floodwaters. The communications were interrupted as
a result of downed wires. In the inlet for over 10 mi. (16 km), most of the barns and roothouses were destroyed.
Chickens and pigs were drowned and vegetable and hay crops destroyed by the floodwaters. The damage was
estimated at $50,000. At Hagensborg the pillars of the large suspension bridge were threatened. A number of families
were isolated. In some houses the water was 3 ft. (90 cm) deep. Mail and supplies had to be taken to Hagensborg by
backpacking. Three attempts to reach Hagensborg on three successive days failed. A fourth attempt to get through
with canoe parties was accomplished. A police party managed to reach Hagensborg by canoe, according to a wire
message from Const. Condon of Bella Coola.
Along the coast the heavy seas caused havoc. The fish packer Delphinium of the Royal Fish Co., on its way
to Prince Rupert from Masset, was lashed by the storm. During the night of October 5-6, it ran aground on a reef on
Whitesand Island off Dundas Island in the Hudson Bay Passage and broke up. The crew escaped to the Green Island
lighthouse. The tender Jedway, belonging to Masset Packers, ran into trouble at Parry Passage, off Langara Island.
The two-man crew of the OK, John Hazelton and partner, was rescued by the Mission launch Northern Cross. Before
being rescued, both men had swum ashore and taken shelter for a couple of days in an old shack on Merrick Island, in
the Arthur Passage in Greenville Channel. An Alaskan boat sank, drowning the crew of five. The MS Dupoco II of the
Dupont Powder Company was torn loose from its moorings and washed ashore some 200 yd. (180 m) from the
residence at Dupont. The vessel was towed by the Yakobi to Juneau, Alaska, for repairs.
---------------------------
*1) This was the latest in a long series of floods. In 1926, the provincial government moved all the inhabitants from
the north to the south side where a new community was built for them.
January 30-February 2, 1935
Event type: Rain-on snow flooding.
Precipitation: Prince Rupert (47.2 mm/2 days), January 30-31, 1935; Falls River (249.5 mm/4 days), January 30-
February 2, 1935; Terrace (145.1 mm/4 days), January 30-February 2, 1935.
Source: The Interior News, February 6, 1935; File 35-40-0, Letter, June 5, 1935, W. H. Cotton (Ass. Dist. Eng.
Smithers) to J. C. Brady (Dist. Eng. Prince Rupert). B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Terrace.
Floodwaters took out the Fiddler Creek bridge, leaving only the cribs and approaches.
28