Straight Talk

State of emergency declared in District of Kent after landslide blocks road to Sasquatch Mountain Resort

by Charlie Smith on February 2nd, 2020 at 9:46 AM
    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Residents and business owners in the Fraser Valley, like other areas of southern B.C., are still cleaning up after a brutal rainstorm dumped huge amounts of water.

      Things are so bad in the District of Kent that its mayor, Sylvia Pranger, has declared a local state of emergency.

      The 116-kilometre district includes Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs, Kilby, and Seabird Island.

      Traffic has been blocked to and from the Sasquatch Mountain Resort, which is in Agassiz, after a landslide on Hemlock Valley Road.

      "We hiked all the way to the bottom of the road to the Sasquatch turn off and I can tell you 3 different parts where the road is washed out. Almost completely, very scary to even walk across maybe 4 feet left of road but it's all broken and loose. 1 mudslide, can go over it on foot but lots of rushing water off to the right and left," wrote Ljubica Korzynek on the resort's Facebook page. "I have to say though, took my kids to the lodge and would've expected at least complimentary refreshments for visitors that are stuck on the mountain. That would be hospitality, especially cause the whole mountain is closed."

      Some of the hundreds of people who were stranded have been evacuated by helicopter.

      The next update from Drive B.C. will come at 12:30 p.m. on February 2.

      Rockwell Drive in Harrison Hot Springs has also been blocked in both directions between Dogood Lane and Rockwell Lane. This means people at the community's resort can't get out.

      According to the district, the drinking-water infrastructure was damaged. That has resulted in a temporary shut down to the system in that area.

      The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is helping the District of Kent with evacuating residents from the area.

      Update

      B.C. Hydro has restored electricity to the Sasquatch Mountain Resort, where about 250 people remain trapped.

      Helicopters have been taking people off the mountain this weekend.

      Comments