Lions Bay declares state of local emergency following deadly landslide

A state of local emergency has been declared in an area of Lions Bay due to a landslide that came down on Saturday.

The Village of Lions Bay said the state of emergency exists in the Brunswick and Magnesia Creek area due to the debris flow and it will remain in force unless cancelled by the municipality of the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

The debris flow swept one residence off the foundation and damaged some infrastructure, according to the municipality.

“One individual from the home has been recovered and confirmed deceased, and the search will continue tomorrow for a second individual.”

Insp. Robert Dykstra with the Sea-to-Sky RCMP told Global News that the Village of Lions Bay and Metro Vancouver are working together to establish a new emergency operations centre so that a number of new resources can be brought in.

“It’s pretty significant,” he said. “It’s not a little mudslide that went across the road and interfered with people’s daily lives driving back and forth on the highway. It’s actually quite a bit of debris that has to be searched through… and it’s not very safe or stable right now, which is why we’re getting additional resources, and the (Emergency Operations Centre) will be doing their thing to get things cleared away so it can be safe to go in and do the search.”

0:49 Landslide closes Highway 99 in Lions Bay

House numbers 52 to 61 Brunswick Beach Road were under evacuation order but that has now been rescinded.

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Lions Bay Mayor Ken Berry said on Monday that this situation has been an emotional one for the community.

“Bringing the whole community together has been, you know, challenging and, but as I say, we’ve got groups like the Lions Bay Fire and Rescue and our Lions Bay Search and Rescue led by Barret Germscheid, and he’s the fire chief, and we also have Ed Langford (who) is head of the search and rescue.”

 The mudslide north of Lions Bay took place during a major windstorm on B.C.’s south coast. It temporarily closed Highway 99, also known as the Sea to Sky Highway.

Highway 99 was closed overnight but reopened around 5 a.m. Sunday.