UPDATE THURSDAY:
Geo-technical and structural engineers investigated the landslide behind the Mandalay Condos in Vernon and determined an irrigation system on private property at the top of the hill either failed or was left on for too long, saturating the ground.
The City of Vernon said because public infrastructure was not damaged, it is now a private matter.
The private property owner declined comment when approached by Global News.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A witness to a landslide in Vernon this week says some quick thinking by two women who were in her condo building’s swimming pool at the time helped them get away with only minor injuries.
Rose Currie said the sound of the landslide behind her condo building Tuesday night was like hearing several shopping carts being run across their tile decks.
“It was quite a loud rumbling sound,” Currie told Global News on Wednesday.
She said she immediately looked out the deck of her fifth floor condo to see a large cloud of dust, which hid the tons of debris that slid down the steep hillside behind the Mandalay Condos on Okanagan Landing Road.
“It was total disbelief,” Currie said of what lay below her. “We just simply couldn’t imagine it could happen that fast or anything that drastic.”
Large trees and mud filled the swimming pool by the building, where two women had been and narrowly escaped with their lives when the slide came down.
“One person, as she saw the mud and debris coming, she was in the water and couldn’t run away from it,” Currie said. “So she dove under the water and the force of the water put her right up on the deck.
“The other person, who had just gotten out of the water, saw something coming down the hill and she ducked and it went over the top of her head.”
Both women were assessed at a hospital. Currie said one has as broken finger and bruises while the other is bruised and shaken up.
Currie said many people, including children, had been around the pool area just minutes earlier.
“The more you think about it, the worse it is,” she said. “Ten minutes before that, there were about a dozen people in the line of the tumbling mud.
“My husband was standing just outside the gate. The gate is no longer there,” Currie said. “He would no longer be here.”
The mud stopped at the condo building, splashing about three metres up the side of the stucco wall.
“Flower pots, chairs, furniture, water toys — everything just completely strewn all over the place.”
Currie said the hillside is quite dry up above their building. It stretches up to a landing about 150 metres above that is occupied by one home with a pool. She said she could not speculate why the dirt gave way.
“I suppose with a hill that steep, it’s possible to have a bit of gravel or sand slide, but to just have mountains of stuff coming down? Big trees, then a continuous flood of muddy water.”
Third-floor condos on the south side facing the slide area remain under evacuation order.
The Mandalay Condos are across the street from the Vernon Yacht Club.
The City of Vernon has not released any information on the incident, which remains under investigation, according to condo residents.
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