HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

On February 5, three men narrowly escaped when the huge icejam broke from under them as a mountain of
ice was swept downstream by a 15-ft. (4.5 m) crest of water built up behind it. The explosives expert and two
Department of Highways employees had gone on the frozen river in a second attempt to blast free the icejam that was
threatening a bridge and sections of Quesnel. The men rode it down river on a big piece of ice and later managed to
jump to shore. The river level dropped 15 ft. (4.5 m) in an hour, ending all threats of more serious flooding.
Earlier, a charge of 60 sticks of dynamite had been set off 2 mi. (3.2 km) downriver from the bridge linking
Quesnel with west Quesnel. The explosion appeared to have no effect on the pile-up of ice that had backed up the river
for more than 5 mi. (8 km). Preparations were made to set off a second and third charge.
By 1 a.m. on February 7, the river started dropping. As the jam slowly moved downstream, by 8 a.m. that
day the river level was back to normal. According to Mayor Fraser, the 7-mi. (11.2 km) long, 500-ft. (150 m) wide and
30-ft. (9 m) high icejam caused an estimated damage to private homes and properties of $35,000. It cost the
municipality an additional $5,000 to battle the flooding.
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*1) The town’s residential area was on septic tanks. (The Vancouver Sun, February 5, 1962).
February 28, 1962
Event type: Rockslide.
Precipitation: Prince Rupert (nil), February 22-28, 1962; Terrace (nil), February 22-28, 1962.
Source: J. Mekechuck, pers. comm. 1989. CN Railway, Edmonton, Alta.
CNR reported a rockslide at Mile 73, measuring a length of 50 ft. (15 m) and a depth of 8 ft. (2.4 m). The
line was closed for 15 hours.
May 24 and June 7, 1962
Event type: Clay flowslides.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Northern Sentinel, May 31, June 14, 1962; Terrace Omineca Herald, May 30, June 6 and 13, 1962; Clague
1984 (p. 60); Evans 1982.
Sensitive glaciomarine mud liquefied, caused two large mudflows at Lakelse Lake. *1) The more northerly
of the two destroyed part of a provincial campsite and damaged the highway. The Lakelse Provincial Campsite had
about 95% of its $100,000 picnic grounds destroyed. Fortunately, the slide happened early in the season. Almost 1
mi. (1.6 km) of the old road and new highway construction was wiped out. The Lakelse Hotsprings, located 1.5 mi.
(2.4 km) from the first and 4 mi. (6.4 km) from the second slide, remained undisturbed. The slide that occurred on
May 24, about 13 mi. (20.8 km) south of Terrace, between Granite-Furlong Creeks, wiped out some 600 yd. (540 m) of
highway. It moved over a distance of 1.5 mi. (2.4 km) and had large fissures 30 ft. (9 m) deep, 10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m)
across. The movements occurred on very nearly level ground (Evans 1982). Vancouver-bound passengers were
transported from Kitimat by boat and bus to the Terrace airport. They detoured by boat from a point on Lakelse Lake
south of the slide area to Water Lily Bay Cabin landing, 2 mi. (3.2 km) further up the lake. From here a bus from
Terrace met them. Starting June 2, CNR ran a special passenger service between Terrace-Kitimat. Because of the
power outage, Terrace had to switch to local auxiliary sources. The road was reopened to traffic on May 29.
On June 7, the second slide came down wiping out almost a mile of the new Highway 25. Six BC Hydro
powerpoles came down, causing a power outage in Terrace. Road building equipment was overturned and partially
buried in the mud but there were no casualties. The operators of two pieces of heavy equipment belonging to Peter
Kiewiet Ltd. working on the new highway escaped. The machines disappeared with the slide.
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*1) There is evidence that one of these failures may have been related to the placement of a spoilbank about 365 m
long and 3 m high (Evans 1982).
June 26-27, 1962
Event type: Spring runoff flooding.
Precipitation: not applicable.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, June 27 and 28, 1962; The Interior News, July 4, 1962.
Heavy 24-hour rain on June 26 caused Buck Creek to flood its banks. Floodwaters from the creek threatened
a number of houses, and rail and highway bridges west of Houston. Several buildings and trailers were completely
surrounded by water. Several families, including Borgenson’s on 10 th Street, had to temporarily vacate their homes.
Hardest hit was the Christian Reformed Church and adjacent parsonage to which considerable damage resulted. As the
creek washed out the bank to within a few feet of the new skating rink, the pumphouse of the rink swept away.
Debris buildups threatened the CNR railway bridge and a highway bridge for a while. Highway 16 was
temporarily closed after the creek undermined the west approach of the bridge. Emergency repairs by the Highways
Department saved the bridge from going out completely. Sandbagging helped preventing the shoulders of the highway
to wash out.
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