HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

In interviews conducted in 1985, Moricetown residents Tommy Michell and Johnny David indicated a severe
flood hitting Moricetown around 1901. All the smokehouses were washed away (Gottesfeld, pers. comm.). It is not
known whether this flood actually maybe referring to the one in 1898.
January 4-5, 1903
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (41.9 mm/1 day), January 3, 1903.
Source: Sword 1904; Terrace Review, November 29, 1989.
Heavy rain for 26 hours caused Cold Water Creek near Terrace to rise 10 ft. (3 m). The creek swept away
the dam from behind which the water for the hatchery was drawn (Sword 1904). *1)
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* 1) This dam was also swept away in 1902. The hatchery at Trout River (now Lakelse River) was situated on the west
side of the river at the mouth of Cold Water Creek, some 2 mi. (3.2 km) down from the lake. It was a large, twostoried
building of saw milled lumber (Elsie Whitlow In: Terrace Review).
October 11-17, 1903
Event type: Dam burst flooding.
Precipitation: Port Simpson (68.0 mm/2 days) October 11-12, 1903; Kitimat Mission (314.1 mm/6 days), October 12-
17, 1903; Masset (43.2 mm/2 days), October 13-14, 1903.
Source: Na-Na-Kwa, January 1904, No. 25; Sword 1904.
Heavy rainfall caused the hatchery dam in Cold Water Creek to give way on October 12. The eggs and fry
had to be placed out in the Lakelse River (Sword 1904). The early part of October had very warm weather with much
rain, which “swelled the rivers and streams to a great height ... the Old Village [was] completely surrounded and some
of the people who were camped there ... came down to Kitamaat.” (Na-Na-Kwa, January 1904).
September 6, 1904
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (48.8 mm/1 day), September 6, 1904; Port Simpson (59.7 mm/1 day), September 6,
1904; Masset (27.9 mm/1 day), September 6, 1904.
Source: Sword 1905.
On September 6, a big freshet occurred near Lakelse River. The Skeena River Hatchery reported no damage
(Sword 1905).
September 29-October 1, 1904
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (115.3 mm/3 days), September 29-October 1, 1904.
Source: Sword 1905.
On October 1 another big freshet occurred near Lakelse River, again not causing any damage at the Skeena
River Hatchery (Sword 1905).
November 12-14, 1904
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (62.8 mm/3 days), November 12-14, 1904.
Source: Sword 1905.
Another big freshet occurred near Lakelse River on November 13. The water rose to within 1 in. (2.5 cm) of
flooding the Skeena River Hatchery again. Some troughs were covered with as much as 3 in. (7.5 cm) of mud. It was
estimated that several thousand fish eggs were lost after the mud covered them in some of the baskets (Sword 1905).
September 17-18, 1905
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (113.5 mm/2 days), September 17-18, 1905.
Source: Whitwell 1906.
It rained very hard for several days causing a big flood that brought large cottonwood and spruce trees down
the (Skeena) river. hatchery fences were smashed and one pen of fish, containing several hundreds of ripe sockeye
salmon, was carried away entirely.
October 1-3, 1905
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat Mission (64.0 mm/3 days), October 1-3, 1905.
Source: Whitwell 1906.
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