THE CANADIAN PRESS and Penticton Herald Staff Monday, June 14, 2010
OLIVER – As rescuers made their way through the debris of a landslide that struck several homes south of Oliver on Sunday, it began to appear that most area residents had made it out in time. Estimates varied wildly in the hours after the slide hit, but RCMP said approximately five homes were struck by the wall of mud that came down at approximately 2:20 p.m. next to Testalinden Creek, near Highway 97 and Road 14. Allan Patton, rural Oliver director with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, said rescuers had reached most of the homes within hours. Two remaining homes were inaccessible by ground, and officials were trying to reach them by helicopter. Officials hadn‘t ruled out fatalities but by late afternoon Patton was cautious, yet increasingly optimistic that nobody was buried. “We‘re all thinking the best is the case, and that is that nobody‘s been hurt or killed. So far we‘re confident that‘s the way but we‘re not sure yet,” he said. He said the homes were destroyed. One hillside home was practically torn apart by the slide. “Walls down, unsalvageable.” James Cambridge, a 46-year-old area resident, described seeing a wall of mud suddenly racing down the hill toward his home. “Something let go up in the hills and this wall of mud came roaring down and took out our shop and buried a couple of cars on our property,” he said. “The roar was deafening. When we left, there were still trees going over (Highway) 97.” Patton said that deafening noise may have given residents just enough of a warning to get out. “I‘ve heard that there was a warning, but it was only a five-minute warning and it was basically just friends phoning friends,” he said. “People who live in the area saw it coming and then started phoning their friends and neighbours.” He said between 25 and 30 homes neighbouring the slide area had been put on evacuation alert.
RCMP said a mountain slope on the western side of the valley gave out, destroying several homes and structures before burying the highway and spilling into the creek. The highway was buried under eight to 12 feet of mud.
“Police, fire and provincial emergency crews are combing the area to confirm whether there are any injuries or persons unaccounted. A Police Service Dog team is on scene along with RCMP Air Services helicopter,” RCMP Cpl Dan Moskaluk said in a statement. Environment Ministry officials were assessing the situation Sunday night and looking into the cause of the slide. While it‘s too early to know what exactly triggered the slide, Patton said the area has been hit by heavy rain in recent days. “We had more rain than we‘re used to,” he said. “It‘s obviously accumulated and (Testalinden) Creek has deep canyons, and potentially there was some debris that backed up and created a dam. But that‘s really just speculation at this point.” Patton said he‘d never seen a slide of this magnitude. Oliver Mayor Pat Hampson said the highway would be closed indefinitely because the mud was more than one metre deep and anywhere from 90 to 150 metres wide. “It‘s pretty hard to describe something like that,” he said. Regional district officials called in a helicopter to investigate areas no longer accessible by car. The slide also forced the closure of Highway 97. An emergency operations centre for evacuated residents was set up in Oliver. Penticton Search and Rescue was also called in to assist. Spokesperson Cindy Smith said they were trying to keep onlookers away, while helping affected residents get to their homes. “We‘re sort of the last line here, trying to keep people out,” she said. “If they do need to go into their house, we‘re escorting them in. Basically we‘re trying to provide some security to the homes that people aren‘t in.”
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