15 March 2007
Winds and Water Slam Region
The massive rains over the weekend triggered major washouts
south of Lytton, (above) and down the Fraser Canyon to Cooper's Corner, near Alexandra Lodge. The road up to Boston Bar
re-opened Tuesday afternoon, but with the catastrophic damage to the CN railway and highway at Lytton the Fraser Canyon
is expected to remain closed for through traffic for up to a week. Mud slides between Hope and Chilliwack primarily near the Wahleach
Power Station are expected to keep that section of the highway closed until Friday. It was re-opened to Laidlaw for local
traffic Tuesday. A majority of the slide action occurred over night, Sunday, 10-11 Mar 2007. Above a train hangs
precariously above a washout with only the tracks for support.
Winter blasted into the region once again this week, forcing the
closure of the Fraser Canyon as well as Highway 1 from Hope to Chilliwack. Even the Coquihalla closed overnight due to snowfall, until
reopening Wednesday morning, (14 Mar 2007).
Winds on Monday (12 Mar 2007) reached gusts of up to 70 kilometer per hour - combined with extreme overnight rainfall
triggering a mass of small slides throughout the region.
The Fraser Canyon was shut down early Sunday afternoon due to rock fall with crews monitoring the many hot spots along the highway
overnight as the pavement finally and slowly gave in to the torrent of water.
The closure of Highway 1 westbound also remained in effect all week, triggering city-style traffic along Old
Hope-Princeton and Water Avenue, as all traffic off the Coquihalla pushed its way across the Hope-Fraser
Bridge towards the lower mainland via Highway 7.
The wind event triggered District Hall to close the already wind-battered Memorial Park due to tree fall hazards. Root
balls of some of the trees that remain standing after the 9 Jan 2007 windstorm could be seen lifting again under the
continued strain of the winds. On 9 Jan 2007 historical weather data shows that the maximum wind gust was 111 kilometers
per hour. Twenty-five trees were brought down in the storm with the council shortly expecting a report from a danger tree
assessor on how many more trees will have to be removed.
Flooding hit the Lorenzetti creek area hard and the fire department was called into the slide zone at Hunter Creek, Sunday night, to
assist a resident with a downed power line.
Major power lines also dropped near J's Husky, and the escaping electrical force was so powerful that it lit up the entire night sky
west of Hope for approximately half an hour. Power to Silver Creek had been immediately cut by the initial blast.
Firefighter Scott Benwell said the arching lines were so bright it was like looking into an arch welder.
Truckers trapped along the highway by the debris slides, the major one at Wahleach, dropped their trailers and saved their tractor
units, in order to escape the high danger zone.
An estimated 11 debris flows between Hope and Popkum hit the highway Sunday night, with the major slide near the Wahleach Power
Station.
By early Monday morning, a tree dropped from the rock bluffs on Thacker Mountain knocking out a string of street lights and cutting
power to the Richmond Drive subdivision as well.
The Coquihalla has reopened, however, the Canyon and Chilliwack routes remain closed, except to local traffic. The Canyon is not
expected to fully open for days with highway failures near Lytton.
"It is catastrophic... the TransCanada Highway is gone," says area Manager for the Ministry of Highway Bob Hacking.
Engineers and planners continue to work on plans to reopen the route to the interior and west to Chilliwack.
Boston Bar residents that remained trapped until convincing the Ministry of Highways Department to compromise and let the traffic
through in a late night special convoy.
With 12 truckers trapped in the community, one with his four year old son in his tractor unit, no doctors, no banks, no fresh food
supplies and no way to get out to work, the community quickly called for at least one lane of the highway to be opened to Hope.
But says Hacking "I can't ignore the safety and people think the damage is not serious but they don't get out of their vehicles
and see the washouts under the highway. I am not about to compromise anyone's safety."
Emergency Preparedness coordinator for the area, Cathy Harry, says her trapped community was getting frustrated with the closure after
seeing police officers feeling safe enough to head down the highway to Chilliwack for court, maintenance crews reportedly travelling
down the Canyon to do their own personal business, and communication lines that were unclear and ever changing.
As emergency coordinator, Harry would like to see the Ministry develop a better communication plan in her community for highway
emergencies, as well as a plan in place for convoys during daylight hours.
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