HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

Around 5 p.m. on October 14, a rockslide knocked out 90 ft. (30 m) of main water pipe at Shawatlan Lake.
City engineers did not locate the break until three hours later. The slide, which was halfway down Shawatlan Lake,
about 0.75 mi. (1.2 km) from the Shawatlan pumping station, covered the pipeline with more than 20 ft. (6 m) of rock.
It was expected it would take until November 19, before the five lengths of pipe would be replaced. On November 15,
only half the city’s water supply was reaching the city. Some higher residential levels of Prince Rupert were already
without water. The reservoir, which the previous night was full with a capacity of 1,151,000 gal. ( 5,179,500 L) was
now empty.
Acting Mayor Alderman Norman Bellis declared Prince Rupert in a state of emergency as far as its water
supply was concerned. With the city reservoir at the top of Roosevelt Park Hill empty, this left a “good percentage” of
the water pipes in the higher levels of the city dry. Bellis issued a desperate plea to all residents, especially those in the
lower levels of town, to preserve water. Emergency pumps were drawing water downstream from the break but only
half the city’s day consumption.
Fall 1956
Event type: Landslide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Daily Colonist, May 4, 1975, pp. 12-13. Ron Burnham. Landslide.
During the fall (?), following heavy rain for more than one day, a landslide came down in the Yellowhead Pass
near the British Columbia-Alberta border. Hundreds of tons of slide material covered two sets of railway tracks. The slide
swept away a parked pick-up truck from a level spot beside the Mount Robson station and carried it downslope towards the
Emperor station. The vegetation between the two sets of tracks was carried away. The Emperor station house was half full
with muddy soup-like debris and the train tracks beside were buried. The slide had started at a waterfall on a steep slope
above the Mount Robson station.
December 16-19, 1956
Event type: Rockslide and snow avalanches.
Precipitation: Aiyansh (50.5 mm/1 day), December 16, 1956; Terrace (110.3 mm/3 days), December 16-18, 1956;
Ocean Falls (327.8 mm/4 days), December 16-19, 1956; Kitimat (284.2 mm/4 days), December 16-19, 1956; Bella
Coola (126.5 mm/3 days), December 17-19, 1956; Falls River (155.5 mm/3 days), December 17-19, 1956; Kemano
(61.0 mm/1 day), December 18, 1956.
Source: The Omineca Herald, December 20, 1956; The Interior News, December 20, 1956; The Daily News, December
17 and 18, 1956; Kitimat Northern Sentinel, December 18 and 21, 1956.
Prince Rupert experienced a gale with winds of 50 mph (80.5 km/h), gusting to 60 mph (96.6 km/h).
Smithers reported heavy snow on December 14-15, bringing the season’s total to 51.1 in. (129.8 cm). Terrace reported
heavy snow with almost 2 ft. (60 cm) in 24 hours. During the week of December 13-20, 30.8 in. (78.2 cm) of snow
and 1.74 in. (44.2 mm) of rain fell. Snowdrifts of 6-7 ft. (1.8-2.1 m) were reported. In Terrace schools were closed.
The rail line was cut by a rockslide at Kwinitsa and slides elsewhere. Highway 16 was closed until December 20.
Heavy snow east of Terrace blocked the road as far as Cedarvale.
On December 17, Kitimat recorded 20 in. (50.8 cm) of snow overnight. Almost 3 ft. (90 cm) of snow fell
over the weekend. On December 21, the Kitimat smelter site reported 9.48 in. (240.8 mm) of rain for three days after
the heavy snowfall on the weekend.
December 22-27, 1956
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat (329.4 mm/5 days), December 22-26, 1956; Falls River (224.5 mm/4 days), December 23-26,
1956; Terrace (122.1 mm/4 days), December 23-26, 1956; Kemano (163.8 mm/4 days), December 23-26, 1956;
Aiyansh (35.6 mm/1 day), December 24, 1956; Sandspit A (30.0 mm/1 day), December 24, 1956; Ocean Falls (414.2
mm/4 days), December 24-27, 1956; Namu (95.5 mm/2 days), December 25-26, 1956; Bella Coola (84.8 mm/2 days),
December 25-26, 1956.
Source: Kitimat Northern Sentinel, December 28, 1956, January 4, 1957; The Interior News, January 3, 1957; Letter,
May 30, 1957, W.S. Jackson. Hatchery Creek Flooding-Terrace; Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd. 1987.
The Kitimat smelter site reported 8.84 in. (224.5 mm) of rain for the period December 24-26. The total
precipitation at the site for December was 32.15 in. (816.6 mm): 8.67 ft. (2.6 m) of snow and 23.48 in. (596.4 mm) of
rain. *1)
Hatchery Creek near Terrace flooded. It resulted in blockage of the entrance to the north channel and
diversion of the main flow to the south channel (Jackson). A breakout through the left (south) bank in the vicinity of
what is now 1 st Avenue was prevented by bulldozing a dike. A “rock wall” was also built to prevent another
breakthrough to the south (Northwest Hydraulic Consultants 1987).
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*1) During December, the Smithers Experimental Farm reported a record 5.09 in. (129.3 mm) rain and snow, almost
three times the 18-year average of 1.87 in. (47.5 mm). The highest previous December was in 1947 with 3.95 in. (100.3
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