Editor’s Note: This article has been edited to correct Roy Sharp’s age. Mr. Sharp is 75 not 76 as previously reported.
A Shuswap couple considers themselves lucky to have escaped a Friday evening mudslide on Sunnybrae-Canoe Point Road. The slide is believed to have claimed the life of their neighbour.
Sunnybrae-Canoe Point Road, on the bank of Shuswap Lake, north of Salmon Arm, is a tranquil natural escape for many. However, that quiet was shattered for Ian and Rachel Sudbury at around 11:20 p.m. on Friday. The couple was at home, sitting on the couch, when they heard an unusual noise that turned out to be a landslide.
“We just heard what sounded like thunder but it just didn’t stop, so we went and opened our front door and immediately, we could hear water raging and trees snapping,” Ian said.
The couple grabbed their dog and fled first to their dock and then to a neighbour’s house. The Sudburys and their neighbours ended up taking to the lake in a row boat to escape the slide.
“It was cold and raining but we didn’t know where else to go,” Ian said.
In the lake, there was debris they could tell came from the home they had just finished building.
“As we were paddling by, we saw that our house was essentially destroyed. There was a giant hole basically covering more than 50 per cent… of the basement and water raging through it,” Ian said.
They lost their property but are grateful to have escaped safely.
Their neighbour, 75-year-old Roy Sharp, is missing. Police said he remains unaccounted for despite “extensive search efforts” over the weekend by Shuswap Search and Rescue and the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team.
“Based on our information, Mr. Sharp was in or around his home at the time of the slide and it is believed that he has perished as a result of the slide,” said Staff Sgt. Scott West of the Salmon Arm RCMP.
The Sudburys are holding out hope that Sharp will be found safely.
“He is absolutely a wonderful individual. He is so helpful and caring and just a gentle soul and a wonderful man. All we can do is continue to hope there is some chance he will be okay,” Ian said.
The Sudburys don’t know if any part of their home will be salvageable or what the future holds for them.
“We don’t know if we could ever fall asleep there again. We are just so grateful that we were awake and we heard things coming and were able to get out,” Ian said.
“I work a lot of night shifts and Rachel is home alone. If I had been away and come home to that, I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t even think about it.”
The slide damaged three homes, forced the evacuation of 13 properties, and has essentially cut off road access to over 100 properties, as Sunnybrae-Canoe Point Road remains covered in debris and closed to traffic.
Some residents are using boats to get around the road closure.
The spokesperson for the local emergency program said there has been no official determination of the cause of the slide but rain, snowmelt and groundwater saturation likely contributed.
Watch Below: After hearing a noise that sounded “like thunder, but it just didn’t stop,” a Shuswap couple fled their house on Friday night. Ian and Rachel Sudbury believe they were lucky to escape a landslide that caused devastating damaged to their newly built home. Now the couple is holding out hope their missing neigbour will be found. Watch their full interview below.
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