HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

December 9, the telegraph lines between Terrace-Smithers came down, halting all telegram service. Because of a
second break The Daily News teletype machine did not receive any wire.
On December 7, heavy wind and rain, following a week of heavy snow hit the Kitimat area. Shortly after
midnight on December 7, a rock, mud and debris slide wiped out Tower 230 on the transmission line between Kitimat-
Kemano in the mid-Kildala Valley, 27 mi. (43.2 km) from Kemano. *1) The power was interrupted for seven days.
Some B.C. Power Commission diesel-electric power plants mounted on rail cars were brought in, keeping the town of
Kitimat from being blacked out. Production at the Alcan smelter was halted as the electrolyte in the pots froze
(Kendrick 1987). A ground patrol reached the trouble spot two days later as bad weather prevented helicopter patrols.
One circuit was restored after five days on wooden poles. The second circuit was beyond repair and not back into
service until July-August 1958.
Smithers reported heavy snow on December 6-7. With milder temperatures on December 8, it turned into
rain.
On December 2, two large avalanches of mixed snow and mud crossed the Martin Valley Road near Ocean
Falls (Stethem and Schaerer 1980). The two slides roared across the Martin Valley Road, isolating the subdivision about
1.5 mi. (2.4 km) from the townsite. Another hurled some 2,000 ft. (600 m) down the west site of Martin Valley across the
Twin Lakes Road. Other slides could be heard coming from Mount Caro Marion. (Ramsey 1971).
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*1) In 1958, Alcan spent approximately $750,000 on an extensive program to reduce slide damage on the Kemano-
Kitimat transmission line. At the Tower 230 area, about 9 mi. (14.4 km) from Kemano Beach, the transmission line
was doubled on two sets of towers for 1.5 mi. (2.4 km) (The Northern Sentinel, October 30, 1958).
December 14, 1957
Event type: Landslides.
Precipitation: Ocean Falls (8.51 in. (216.2 mm)/1 day) December 14, 1957.
Source: Not available.
On December 14, Ocean Falls experienced very heavy wind and a record rainfall with a total of 8.51 in.
(216.2 mm) in 24 hours. The rainfall was estimated at 0.5 in. (12. 5 cm) an hour. Link Lake rose 4.17 ft. (1.25 m).
There were several reports of people being blown off their feet. The men fighting the fast-rising waters of Link Lake
by sand bagging splashboards on the dam, “had to hang on to the guard rails with one arm.” When the wind gusted
men striving to divert floodwaters around their Martin Valley homes “had to brace themselves with their shovels.”
April 10-16, 1958
Event type: Landslide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Cariboo Observer, April 17, 1958; Evans (unpublished data) (Case history 36).
Heavy rain in April caused a slump at westerly face of Red Bluff, at the south approach of Quesnel. The
slump in glaciolacustrine silt destroyed three homes. *1) The cause of the massive slide was not immediately known. It
was believed to have resulted from a combination of circumstances. One may be the fact that the hill had been logged
off, making it more prone to water damage. Another may have been the directing of a drainage ditch into the back of
the hill. Residents claimed that diverting water from Red Bluff Flat created a slough on top of the hill, which finally
saturated the whole face of the cliff. The theory of the presence of hot springs deep within the hill was also advanced
as a possible cause.
Starting April 10, a series of frost boils along the hill erupted into a landslide. Steadily the slide face
expanded to the east face of the hill where the old road was located. Finally there was a front of 2,000 ft. (600 m)
crawling and heaving down. The first house to be demolished was located on the hillside some 300 yd. (270 m) above
the junction by the A.L. Patchett & Sons mill. For a week, its residents had watched with apprehension, as the hill
behind their home appeared to be softening. An effort to move the house came too late. As the road below the house
erupted and heaved, a wall of mud moved down to push the building off its foundations. In an effort to save the house,
it was hoisted onto blocks late on April 11.
The next day it became apparent the house could not be saved. That same day, the slide face widened and the
pressure increased. Department of Highways crews worked around the clock to open a one-way traffic lane around the
slide area. There were frequent delays as light fill material was hauled in to stabilize the ground. The slide moved
downward through January 12 and 13 into 14. On the morning of April 13, cabins at the foot of the hill occupied by
Mr. and Mrs. Les Aiken and Mr. and Mrs. Leo Demas were evacuated as the ground started to heave. The buildings
owned by C.L. Ellison tilted at “grotesque angles.” Also threatened were the homes of Norman Zahara and still further
up the hill the modern homes of Norman Palmer, Ed Knott and James Proudlove. The ground was trembling and
heaving. The floors moved off level, and Proudlove’s well collapsed.
By April 14, the roadway at the foot of the hill had heaved up 20 ft. (6 m). A hundred yards (90 m) further
on, there was a hollow. Gaping cracks criss-crossed the old highway and in spots it had dropped more than 5 ft. (1.5
m). The new road, built originally to serve the Western Plywood plant and had later been converted into a portion of
the main highway, was gone. Even as to where it original location had been was a matter of guesswork. Instead there
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