HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

on April 17-18. Sandspit airport reported the largest two-day storm on record with 94.0 mm of rain. *1) It also
recorded the greatest rainfall in 24 hours with 79.5 mm on April 15.
In the lower areas north of Terrace, many basements were flooded. Williams Creek flooded the Lakelse
Road. On Highway 16 several washouts and damage to the road occurred between Salvus-Kitwanga. The road was
flooded at Prudhomme Lake and at Mile 67. Mudslides occurred at Kitwanga and east of Usk. Highway 16 between
Endako-Lejac became impassable and was officially closed.
Damage on the lower Skeena River caused by heavy rain disrupted train schedules for three days. The
railroad traffic was delayed by a washout at Mile 40. A washout 15 mi. (24 km) west of Terrace was cleared and
washed out again. On April 17, a sinkhole developed a few miles west of Terrace, delaying the eastbound passenger
train for 12 hours. The eastbound train was held at Kwinitsa. The Nechako and Bulkley subdivisions reported minor
trouble, temporarily interrupting rail service on the Smithers division.
On April 19-20, torrential rains washed out the PGE trestle at Whiskey Creek, 13 mi. (20.8 km) north of
Williams Lake. A 16-year-old boy who discovered the washout circled it and walked 2 mi. (3.2 km) down the track to
warn the section foreman just in time to halt a train due to pass over the trestle two hours later. The flash flood in
Whiskey Creek, caused by sudden thaw conditions, carried away about 200 ft. (60 m) of track and a “considerable
portion” of fill.
On May 21, a plugged culvert in the PGE fill at Marguerite backed up water for an estimated 2 mi. (3.2 km)
threatening the highway bridge which parallels the railway. Debris carried by down by runoff was believed to be the
cause of plugging the culvert. Pumps were brought in to control the situation.
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*1) In October 1978, a new record was set with 120.3 mm.
December 12-13, 1952
Event type: Debris slides
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Interior News, December 18, 1952.
Unseasonable rain caused washouts and slides between Terrace-Prince Rupert. On December 12 at 11:20
a.m., a washout 50 ft. (15 m) long and 3 ft. (90 cm) deep occurred 4 mi. (6.4 km) west of Kwinitsa. At 3 p.m., a 300-ft.
(90 m) long and 3-ft. (90 cm) deep snow, tree and rockslide came down 1.5 mi (2.4 km) west of Kwinitsa. Another
small rockslide occurred 2 mi. (3.2 km) east of Kwinitsa. A slide of snow, rock and trees, 200 ft. (60 m) long and 4 ft.
(1.2 m) deep came down 7 mi. (11.2 km). Also a number of minor slides came down in the same area. On December
13 at 1 p.m., the rail line was passable.
February 1, 1953
Event type: Rockslide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Vancouver Province, February 6, 1953; Victoria Daily Times, February 7, 1953; The Daily Colonist,
February 7, 1953; The Interior News, February 12. 1953.
On February 1, an estimated 25,000 tons of rock came down blocking the Babine River for the second time
in less than two years. It came down the canyon in the same channel where in 1951a 500,000-ton slide blocked this
vital salmon stream. The slide buried a bulldozer working there to clear a previous slide. No one was injured. When
efforts were made to dig out the bulldozer, “further cascades” started and the crews were withdrawn for safety reasons.
Work on the “Babine Project” was temporarily halted. *1)
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*1) For 10 weeks crews had been working on clearing this section of the river to facilitate the 1953 sockeye salmon
run. (The Interior News, February 12. 1953).
Summer 1953
Event type: Landslide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Terrace Omineca Herald, June 24, 1954; The Terrace Standard, June 23, 1993; R.E. Wells, pers. comm. May
2, 1994. Former Resident Engineer CNR.
In the summer of 1953, during the construction of the Terrace-Kitimat railway, a landslide occurred near
Alwyn Creek. The slide at Mile 6.6 buried construction equipment, including bulldozers, into the mud. When the
slide occurred, construction of the bridge across Alwyn Creek and the bridge approach had begun. Later, the slide area
was bulldozed over and the bridge construction proceeded. The bulldozed site was used as a fabrication area for all the
bridge frames.
August 11, 1953
Event type: Landslide.
Precipitation: Terrace (0.0 mm/11 days), August 1-11, 1953.
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