Rock slide west of Keremeos, B.C., closes Highway 3 in both directions, triggers state of local emergency

A rock slide west of Keremeos, B.C., has closed a six-kilometre portion of Highway 3 and resulted in an evacuation order for an RV park and a mobile home park.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) has also declared a state of local emergency for seven days in the area due to the slide, which happened on Sunday evening.

The two properties under an evacuation order are at 3455 and 3491 Highway 3. The district has set up an emergency operations centre at the baptist church in Princeton, about 50 kilometres northwest, for those affected by the order. 

Tim Roberts, area director for the RDOS in the Keremeos area, told CBC News about 30 people had been ordered to leave.

DriveBC says a detour is available along Highway 97 to Highway 97C and then Highway 5A. It says an update is expected by 4 p.m. PT Tuesday.

Rhonda Wilkins, owner of the River Valley RV Park, which was ordered evacuated, says rock falls are a common occurrence in the area.

"We aren't nervous or anything, I mean it happens all the time," she said.

Jim Zaffino, manager of finance for the regional district, said the district is open to discussing longer-term solutions with the Ministry of Transportation to improve infrastructure along that stretch of the road.

WATCH | Slides are common in the valley west of Keremeos:

Rock slide closes Highway 3 and forces evacuations

1 year ago

Duration 2:11

A rock slide near Keremeos has closed Highway 3 in B.C.'s southern Interior and forced about 30 people out of their homes, according to the regional district.

"We would like to see what we can do better for the taxpayers here," he said.

For now, Zaffino says the district is waiting for the geotechnical engineers to perform slope assessments and determine the cause of the rockfall.

Power outage

A spokesperson for FortisBC, which provides electricity in the region, said about 1,500 customers lost power at around 7:40 p.m. PT Sunday due to the slide. 

Around 9 p.m. it had restored power to majority of those customers, but as of Monday morning about 150 remained in the dark, he said.

"When there's an active rock slide or an issue that we have to navigate like that, we have to take a level of care as we respond to restore power as quickly as is possible," he said.

The utility's website shows power has been restored in the affected areas.