HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

October 15-17, 1962
Event type: Flooding.
Precipitation: Aiyansh (86.1 mm/2 days), October 15-16, 1962; Falls River (111.6 mm/2 days), October 15-16, 1962;
Kemano (74.5 mm/2 days), October 15-16, 1962; Kitimat (135.6 mm/3 days), October 15-17, 1962; Ocean Falls (158.2
mm/2 days), October 16-17, 1962.
Source: Northern Sentinel, October 18, 1962; Environment Canada 1991; Meziadin Environmental Advisory Team
1975 (Vol. 3, Fig. 4-9).
Kitimat recorded 3.73 in. (94.7 mm) of rain in 48 hours. The Kitimat River rose 10 ft. (3 m) in 36 hours.
Radley Park had the two lower roads on either side of the bridge washed out, marooning a camper truck. The Kitimat
dump road was closed, as there was 3 ft. (90 cm) of water across the bridge. On October 17, the Zymoetz River at
Terrace recorded an estimated maximum daily discharge of 850 m 3 /s. On the same day the Exchamsiks River
recorded a maximum instantaneous discharge of 23,100 cfs (854 m 3 /s) (Meziadin Environmental Advisory Team
1975). On Highway 16, washouts occurred at Delta Creek and Exstew River. The highway was closed for 2.5-7
hours.
November 18-19, 1962
Event type: Fatal snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Aiyansh (33.3 mm/1 day), November 18, 1962; Falls River (65.8 mm/1 day), November 18, 1962;
Kemano (108.0 mm/1 day), November 18, 1962; Smithers (49.8 mm/2 days), November 18-19, 1962; Smithers A (58.2
mm/2 days), November 18-19, 1962.
Source: The Interior News, November 21, 1962.
Overnight November 18-19, the Smithers area experienced heavy snow. Heavy rain on November 18
preceded the snow. On the Hudson Bay’s Glacier Gulch, a snowslide came down, killing a mining employee. It was
reported that during the storm 4 ft. (1.2 m) of snow fell on the glacier. The victim’s sleeping cabin was located near
the south creek below the steep rockwall of the glacial cirque. The snow avalanche swept the sleeping camp and a
pumphouse downhill, scattering debris for 1,000 ft. (300 m) down the slope of rock below the glacier. On November
18 at 6:30 p.m., the victim reported by radio a slide at the pump site.
On November 19, two members of a rescue team were hit and buried by another snow avalanche, but
managed to extricate themselves. The victim’s body was reported found on November 20 under 6-8 ft. (1.8-2.4 m) of
snow.
February 2-8, 1963
Event type: Icejam flooding.
Precipitation: Kitimat (184.4 mm/5 days, incl. 106.7 cm snow/3 days), February 2-6, 1963; Tasu (45.0 mm/1 day),
February 3, 1963; Kemano (159.3 mm/3 days), February 3-5, 1963; Kitimat Townsite (161.3 mm/3 days), February 3-5,
1963; Terrace (107.2 mm/4 days), February 3-6, 1963; Sandspit A (29.2 mm/1 day), February 4, 1963; Falls River (147.8
mm/2 days), February 4-5, 1963.
Source: The Citizen, February 4, 6 and 8 1963; The British Columbian, February 6, 1963; Terrace Omineca Herald,
February 6, 1963; Northern Sentinel, February 7, 1963; Cariboo Observer, February 7, 1963.
About midnight on February 2, the rapidly rising Fraser River forced the evacuation of several house trailers
in Quesnel. Town crews towed seven trailers parked in the Cariboo Log Cabin Camp at the edge of the river in West
Quesnel to higher ground as the ice-swollen river rose approximately 9 ft. (2.7 m) since about February 1. On February
3, the Vancouver Piledriving and Contracting Co. Ltd, building the footings of the new PGE bridge, was forced to
move equipment up the bank to higher ground. The ice was reported jammed for 15 mi. (24 km) downstream.
The icejam threatened the bridge across the river at Quesnel when tons of ice piled against its concrete
superstructure. According to Al Slater, district superintendent of highways, the distance from the top of the ice to the
top of the bridge piers at 10 a.m. on February 4 was 16 ft. (4.8 m) while the normal distance is 25 ft. (7.5 m). He said
the river was frozen from Quesnel to just south of Soda Creek and for about a mile (1.6 km) north of town.
Between February 4-7, the Quesnel River rose more than 6 ft. (1.8 m), completely flooding the sandbar at its
junction with the Fraser River. By February 7, the Fraser River was frozen for about 50 mi. (80 km) from 2 mi. (3.2
km) north of Quesnel to Soda Creek. At Quesnel, the river rose 6 ft. (1.8 m) in 8 hours. Early on February 8, for a short
time the ice-jammed Fraser River threatened to flood Quesnel. At 3:30 a.m., the river was jammed solid at West
Quesnel near the Fraser River bridge. One hour later, with the river running at an estimated speed of 2-4 mph (3.2-6.4
km/h), a clear channel was open. By noon, the river receded 20 ft. (6 m) from the west bank, dropping approximately
15 ft. (4.5 m). As the water fell back, it left huge blocks of ice up to 15 ft. thick. Immediately south of the bridge, tons
of ice were piled on the west bank of the river.
Early February Kitimat recorded 27 in. (68.6 cm) of snow in 24 hours or 52 in. (132.1 cm) in 96 hours.
Between the morning of February 3 and the night of February 4, more than 3 ft. (90 cm) of snow fell in Kitimat. The
snowfall claimed two lives in Kitimat. Both victims suffered heart attacks while shoveling snow.
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