27 March 2007
Slide Victims Say They Warned District
Maple Ridge British Columbia - One of the most desirable
postal codes in Maple Ridge got a little smaller on Sunday.
Maria Raynolds, who has lived in her home in the 21400 block of River Road for more than two decades, watched as several metres of her
backyard cascaded down the embankment onto the CP Rail tracks below.
Seconds before she saw the bank give way, Raynolds said she heard what sounded like crackling - and then it was gone.
"It was dramatic, it was quick," said her husband Tracy, who estimates the whole thing took about 30 seconds.
While the entire mudslide may have taken seconds, the Raynolds have been predicting this event for years.
The couple was evacuated, as were residents of three neighbouring homes following the slide, which occurred at about 1:30 p.m. They
were back home shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday night.
The damage was avoidable, Maria said.
More than a year ago she drew up a petition, urging the municipality to hook the neighbourhood up with storm sewers.
The neighbours signed on, but nothing was done.
Ten days ago she was at it again, writing letters to the municipality, urging the added infrastructure, as she was shocked by the fact
that for the first time, her basement was flooding. Several of their neighbours were experiencing flooding as well.
Storm sewers were added to the neighbourhood, but stopped about 200 metres away from the Raynold's home.
"I had just written to council last week because of the volume of water," she said.
Even now with the gouge the mudslide has left on their property, there is still a watercourse winding its way down from beneath their
property, to the tracks and river below.
"I was hoping to stay here another 20 years," Maria said, looking out past the caution tape that bisects her backyard.
"When you have a very steep bank like that, this can happen," she said, but the slide could have been mediated.
She's hoping the district will now decide to deal with the properties and the drainage problems.
"It can be contained."
Several members of council and the mayor descended on the property Sunday afternoon, and the slide was a topic of discussion at
Monday's workshop meeting.
"The winter of hell seems to continue," chief administrative officer Jim Rule commented, adding the emergency operation
centre has been activated six times in the last four months.
"The waters coming from the skies has been astronomical."
Rule said that a geotechnical engineer had been out on the site of the slide Sunday, and would be back Monday to follow up.
According to media spokesman Gary Manson, all property owners are being encouraged to get their own geotechnical engineers involved.
"These are all private property matters," he told The TIMES, adding the responsibility now falls on the owners.
According to Coun. Ken Stewart, there have long been problems along the riverfront.
"That's been going along for eons, the natural sloughing of the escarpment." Unless there's a "massive terracing
solution," Stewart said, "these people are going to lose little bits of their backyards."
Maple Ridge Mayor Gord Robson suggested residents "have been promised by previous councils" that something would be done to
mitigate drainage problems.
Council is recommending an engineering consultant draw up a report on the situation and suggest
solutions.
|
