Couple sues Metro Vancouver over deadly 2020 Cleveland Dam incident

It was a deadly incident in October 2020, blamed on human error in an early report: a drum gate at the Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver was opened, allowing a massive surge of water to rush down the Capilano River without warning.

Now, a pair of nearly identical lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court describe the experience of a married Vancouver couple who were sitting on a rock along the river about a kilometre downstream from the dam.

Chihiro Nakamura, a chef, and her husband Mateusz Wiacek, a machinist, claim in the lawsuits that they suffered nervous shock, abrasions, post traumatic stress disorder, and in the case of Nakamura, injuries to her knees and ankles.

In the court filings, the two claim they were sitting on a rock in a shallow part of the river, facing away from the dam in the early afternoon, when suddenly and without warning, they heard a rushing sound behind them.

Wiacek was the first to turn his head and see a wall of water rushing toward them. He yelled to his wife to run.

Nakamura's statement of claim describes how she slipped and fell while getting off the rock. Wiacek didn't notice at first and made it to the shore ahead of her.

Nakamura grabbed an angled tree and managed to pull herself up onto it. She claims as the water continued to rise, she was forced to climb the tree, which angled away from shore, distancing herself further from her husband.

Wiacek first tried to reach her with a piece of wood, but he claims the powerful current violently pulled the wood out of his hands. He then ran up an embankment to call 911 and try to get help.

Nakamura claims that she thought she was going to die, stranded on the tree as Wiacek ran back and forth trying to get help for 30 minutes. The ordeal came to an end only as the water began to subside, the couple claims, when firefighters arrived to rescue Nakamura.

As detailed in the lawsuits, the water level increased by 3.58 metres. At its peak, 413 cubic metres of water flowed down the river each second.

Wiacek and Nakamura each claim they suffered pain, sleeplessness and fatigue, loss of income, loss of earning capacity, loss of amenities and enjoyment of life as a result of the incident, along with cost of medical care and treatment. They're suing for damages, as well as reimbursement for medical costs and the cost of the legal action. 

None of the claims in the lawsuits have been tested in court, and as of Tuesday, the defendants had not yet filed responses.

One man was killed by the rushing water, while another was reported missing and is presumed to have died.

Nearly a month after the unexpected water surge, three Metro Vancouver employees were fired in connection to the incident.

In April, 2021, an alarm system was installed at the dam.