Mudslide evacuation order remains for 6 Kaslo, B.C. families
Residents of 41 other properties cleared to return home Tuesday night
The threat of further slides is keeping six families out of their homes in southeastern B.C., but residents of 41 other properties were allowed to return Tuesday night.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay downgraded an evacuation order late Tuesday affecting nearly four dozen homes in the Kootenay Lake community of Kaslo, about 700 kilometres east of Vancouver.
A flight over the hillside above the area showed a 100 metre-long, 75 metre-wide slide had occurred Monday night and the edge of the debris had stopped just 300 metres above the nearest homes.
A post on the regional district's web page also says engineers saw a small amount of earth movement on Tuesday and the ground remains unstable.
Although the evacuation order was lifted for most of the affected properties, the regional district says residents in those homes remain under evacuation alert and must be ready to leave on short notice.
Engineers blame the slide on recent heavy rains and the melting of an usually heavy snowpack.