Mudslide wipes out Highway 1
Posted Jun 29, 2011 8:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CHILLIWACK (NEWS1130) – Fire, police and search and rescue first responders have completed a ground search of the Highway 1 mudslide, but still can’t say whether more than one vehicle was impacted by the deluge.
The Trans-Canada was closed in both directions just east of Bridal Falls, and traffic was being detoured via the Lougheed Highway and Highway 9 after the slide his on Wednesday. However, the westbound lanes were cleared early Thursday morning.
One car was hit by the slide, but the female driver escaped with only a bruised knee.
“We walked the area as best we could to determine if there were any further vehicles under the slide, but we were unable to locate any,” says Sgt. Peter Thiessen. He points out that the depth of the mud and debris make it difficult to complete the search.
“Next heavy equipment will be starting to move the debris to determine if any vehicles or individuals are trapped under the slide,” he says, adding the slide is over 7 metres deep and 61 metres long.
“At this point we cannot confirm if more than one vehicle has been involved in the mud slide. We know one vehicle was involved, but those occupants are safe and accounted for.”
The Ministry of Transportation hopes to reopen the highway in the eastbound direction by Thursday afternoon.
Sandra Sigfusson was there when it happened, and she’s not so sure no one else was caught in the debris.
“I’m just worried about the people that were behind us because it looks like one guy was struggling to stop. I wonder if he ended up driving into it,” she says.
As for the mudslide itself, Sigfusson says it was chocolate brown, thick, and as tall as a car. It just missed her near Herrling Island.
“It was an awful lot of soil,” she explains. “It was coming out like soup. It just exploded.”
She says water levels in the area are high and it was pouring rain. “All those creeks that run down through that whole section… they’re all chocolate-brown in colour and they were just roaring, so it didn’t surprise me at all.
The slide also hit the CN tracks. Kelli Svendsen with CN says the debris blocked the line in front of a westbound train.
“I just know that it’s stopped, and the train impacted the mudslide,” she says. “There were no injuries and no derailment as a result.”
The train was pulling containers loaded with consumer goods.
Police say no homes have been impacted.
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