A Vancouver woman who was rescued from the Capilano River canyon after the deadly 2020 Cleveland Dam accident is suing Metro Vancouver and the regional water district.
On Oct. 1, 2020, the dam’s spillway was mistakenly opened, sending a massive volume of water surging down the canyon and catching people recreating in the area unaware.
Officials confirmed the disaster killed one person, and another person remains missing and presumed dead. Metro Vancouver later confirmed the incident was a result of human error “related to programming of the control system for the spillway gate,” and fired three people.
In a notice of civil claim filed earlier this month, Chihiro Nakamura, who survived the disaster, claims the incident was the result of negligence on the part of the regional district.
“The Cleveland Dam did not have any or any adequate alarms or warning systems to warn visitors to the said park should there be a malfunction or human error in the operation of the flow levels of the water escaping the dam, despite a history of dangers and harms from this source known to the defendants with respect to visitors to the park,” the suit claims.
Nakamura further claims she was left with physical injuries along with damaged mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder and sleeplessness.
According to the suit, Nakamura and her husband Mateusz Wiacek were sitting on a rock in the canyon, about a kilometre south of the dam when the spillway opened.
“Suddenly and without warning the plaintiff could hear a rushing sound behind her. When her husband turned his head around, he saw a wall of water rushing toward them, and he yelled to the plaintiff sitting beside him to run.”
The suit claims the couple tried to make it to the river’s edge but became separated amid rapidly rising water. Wiacek made it to shore, but Nakamura became trapped on a tree angling into the river from the shore, it claims.
“She managed to straddle onto the tree and as the rushing waters kept rising higher and higher, she was forced to climb further up the tree away from the shore,” the suit alleges.
After trying and failing to reach his wife with a piece of wood, Wiacek scrambled to the lip of the canyon to call 911 as waters continued to rise, the suit claims.
“In the interval of about 30 minutes while the plaintiff’s husband frantically made a number of attempts running ran back and forth to get help, the plaintiff was left alone in the midst of the swirling and rising waters and she thought she was going to die.”
Eventually, firefighters were able to rescue Nakamura from the tree as water levels began to subside, the suit claims.
According to the suit, she suffered abrasions and injuries to her knees and ankles, along with nervous shock and PTSD.
Since the incident, she has sought counselling and avoidance therapies, and has suffered sleeplessness and fatigue along with a loss of enjoyment of life and earning capacity and income, the suit claims.
Nakamura claims Metro Vancouver was negligent in its supervision and training of workers, the repair and operation of the dam’s drum gate and spillway, and in the failure to operate a warning system in the case of emergencies.
She is seeking general and special damages of an unspecified amount.
In a statement, Jerry Dobrovolny, CAO and Commissioner of Metro Vancouver said the district was first notified of the claim on Friday, and had yet to file its response.
“Over the past two years, we have had no direct contact from the couple other than receiving their claims this past Friday, and they have made no prior attempts to work with us or notify us about their experience,” Dobrovolny said.
“Following the event on October 1, 2020, Metro Vancouver commenced an urgent and comprehensive review that has been looking at everything from programming, operations, and internal protocols … Metro Vancouver has also undertaken engagement with the public and stakeholders to learn about their experiences along the river, and continues work to study the hydrology of the river and conduct on-site surveys to determine patterns of public use that will inform additional long-term public safety enhancements.”
In 2021, Metro Vancouver installed a new warning system along the Capilano River involving six audio and visual alarms along the waterway to be used in the case of emergencies.
None of the claims have been proven in court.