12 dangerous mudslides & rockslides that have hit B.C.
CBC News | Posted: March 24, 2014 7:23 PM | Last Updated: March 25, 2014
Every year in B.C., there are countless mudslides and rockslides, but only a few put lives in danger
Dangerous mudslides and rockslides happen regularly in B.C.. While many are linked to heavy rain in the winter, history shows they can happen year-round.
Here's a list of a dozen of the most recent that put lives in danger:
1. Keremeos, January 2014: A rockslide on Highway 3 closed the route in both directions and sent one person to hospital and left hundreds without power.
2. Langley, October 2012: Two mudslides in one morning damaged at least one house and forced the evacuation of a rural neighbourhood.
3. Fairmont Hot Springs, July 2012: A mudslide swept down a creek bed through the popular resort town north of Cranbrook. The slide sent people scrambling to get out of the way, forced the closure of a local road and the evacuation of a nearby resort.
4. Johnsons Landing, July 2012: Four people were killed when a massive landslide destroyed several homes in the Kootenay community.
5. Lions Bay, April 2011: A rockslide on the Sea to Sky Highway between Whistler and Vancouver destroyed one vehicle as boulders the size of cars crashed down onto the road.
6. Chilliwack, June 2011: A landslide east of Chilliwack closed the Trans-Canada Highway. One woman suffered minor injuries when her car rolled twice as debris roared down across four lanes of highway and a railway line.
7. Langford, December 2010: A seven-year-old boy narrowly escaped injury after a rockslide crashed into his home, tossing him and his bed across his room.
8. Pemberton, August 2010: As many as 1,000 residents were ordered to leave from B.C.'s Lillooet River valley over fears of flooding after a two-kilometre-wide landslide in the area.
9. Oliver, July 2010: Five houses were demolished, two others damaged and several farms destroyed when an aging dam failed, sending a mass of water, mud, trees and other debris crashing down a local hillside.
10. Coquitlam, December 2009: A mudslide left a Coquitlam, B.C., family home teetering on the edge of a steep hillside.
11. Whistler, July 2008: The Sea to Sky Highway linking Vancouver and Whistler was closed for five days after a massive rockslide closed the route, narrowly missing a passenger bus.
12: North Vancouver, January 2005: A state of emergency was declared after a mudslide destroyed two homes, killing one woman as she slept in her bed.