A Pass Creek home has been knocked off its foundation after a series of slides over the weekend.
Regional fire chief Terry Swan (pictured below) says the first small slide came down Saturday at 3537 Pass Creek Road. Following a hydrological assessment that found the hillside remained unstable, the woman who lives there went to stay with friends in Castlegar. Since then, there have been two more slides, the most recent of which moved the home off its foundation.
Swan said while it’s hard to measure, he believe it was moved “at least a foot and a half. It moved far enough that power lines coming into it were on the ground.”
The home’s carport is at the base of the hill. Although there are neighbouring properties with similar banks, Swan said he was assured there is no risk to them.
Swan says the regional district’s emergency responders were busy all weekend, although most of what they dealt with was minor.
“Not minor to the people impacted, but the vast majority of incidents had to do with culverts plugged with snow and ice,” he said. “No major rivers or streams were involved — they had capacity, but the smaller ones [did not]. The water had no place to go, and would spill over the road.”
There were washouts at Slocan Park and on Shoreacres-Goose Creek Road, where three families remain stranded. The road is being rebuilt, but the work is expected to take several days. A rockslide also knocked powerlines down at the Lardeau Bluffs.
Swan said there were also problems in Riondel and Kaslo. But with the exception of the Pass Creek incident, damage was limited to flooded basements and mud flows over private property.
“[Highways contractor] YRB did a terrific job because they were so spread out yet seemed to get to the scenes very quickly,” he said, adding a lot of the fixes were temporary and will require further work.