$1.00 + HST Vol. 26 | No. 21 Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thorsen Creek is under a barrage of heavy equipment as crews work continuously to keep it under control
Heavy rain delivers high water and prompts more evacuations BY CAITLIN THOMPSON Just three weeks after the Bella Coola Valley experienced its worst flood on record, heavy rain on Tuesday, October 19 forced evacuation orders on Grant Road, the south side of Saloompt and the north end of Nusatsum Road. The rainfall prompted the B.C. River Forecast Centre to issue an initial Flood Warning advisory for the Bella Coola River and its tributaries. Thorsen Creek was a dramatic scene late Tuesday as crews scrambled to hold the water back when a dike broke and water began to flow both east and west.
Heavy equipment brought into to rebuild the highway is now being used to fight flooding. It was a tense 24 hours as crews utilized all the resources available to them to patch the Thorsen Creek dike and halt the flooding. “We had four excavators, three of them quite large, and up to five rock trucks hauling large blasted rock up to the site,” said CCRD Emergency Program Coordinator Stephen Waugh. “We had lights set up and worked through the night to repair the dike.” When the first dike broke at Thorsen there was another to hold the water back. However,
this still resulted in the evacuation of twelve homes as the water began to travel upstream and threaten homes. “We are in an extremely compromised position now because of last months’ flood,” said Waugh. “The sediment and debris have put a lot of additional pressure on the river systems and as a result we are still on edge.” The large amount of bedload left in the rivers as a result of last months’ flood is a constant challenge to managing the response, especially if there is added precipitation. Any significant rainfall will push the creeks and streams to bankfull quite quickly as they are already near capacity.
“We held the dikes at Thorsen, rebuilt them overnight, and protected two homes that were immediately threatened,” said Waugh. “When the rain abated, we were able to get the upper hand. We took full advantage of it in order to be prepared for the next one.” Residents are certainly growing weary of the weather and the conditions that follow. Many people are still cleaning up homes and businesses from last months’ flood and are not happy with the idea of facing more setbacks. Most of the twelve homes on Grant Street that were evacuated had been damaged by
September’s flood. The O’Neill’s had just thrown away the last of their flood-ruined possessions a few days earlier. “We were told to evacuate again yesterday,” Susan O’Neill said. “I’m terrified that my home of more than 30 years is going to end up in the flood path of the Bella Coola River and Thorsen Creek. And I’m terrified for my neighbours and my community, that it’s going to fall apart because no one cared enough to listen to people who live here.” The O’Neill’s concerns are not unique. “When we first got hit three weeks ago it was a big surprise and it was the flood of the SEE RESIDENTS ON PAGE 3