PEMBERTON, B.C. – Locals here are breathing a sigh of relief today after an evacuation order was lifted on the town and the farming valley following a massive slide on a nearby mountain.
“As of 11 a.m. this morning the declaration of state of local emergency and the evacuation order have been cancelled,” said Leslie Lloyd, information officer
for the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District.
“Based on an assessment report by the geotechnical experts and engineering specialists … it appears that any imminent threat of any catastrophic event and any flooding has been alleviated.
“Meager Creek has created a new channel and water is flowing out."
The large-scale landslide on Mount Meager near Pemberton rushed 40 million cubic metres of earth, making it the second-largest slide in Canadian history – only slightly smaller than the Hope, B.C., slide of 1965.
As dawn broke Saturday morning, local search and rescue officials began to look for two missing Vancouver firefighters whose car had been found in a parking area near the slide.
The fear was they had been caught in the muddy torrent. But by mid-morning the two, who had been out hiking in the Harrison Hut area, had been located by SAR helicopter teams.
“We had no idea the slide had even taking place,” said Mark Nitychoruk, who was hiking out with friend Jay Pruniak when a helicopter swooped down on the pair and brought them out.
The pair had hiked through the region when the slide came down Thursday morning.
“It scares you a little bit to think you were there so close to the time when it came down,” said Nitychoruk.
Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy said procedures for the evacuation orders worked well and that the town was lucky, this time.
“The Meager complex is an unstable complex and it has a history of slides, so there is risk up there and there always will be," he said. "But in terms of the community and risk to the settlements at this particular time it is minimal, and no greater than average,” said Sturdy.
“It is unlikely we will see a slide of that magnitude in the near future.
“It is a rocky, muddy, slurry debris.
“I think we dodged a bullet this time.”
More to come.
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