r } ; . f C LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY, | PARLIAMENT ZUILDINGS» VICTORIA, B.C. iol comP. 77/78 Valume 72 No. 212 vBY-1X4 Thursday, November 2, 1978 , (_ COPPER ALL METALS Location Seal Cove \ RUPERT STEEL & SALVAGE LTD. we buy MOH. - SAT. OPER TIL & p.m. ‘ BRASS & BATTERIES Phone 624-5639 yy, It’s water, water everywhere Highway 16 East was closed Wednesday due to @ wash cut about 20 miles east of Terrace. Copper River showed signs of spilling over into the highway closer to Terrace tate Wednesday afternoon. Waterfalls, spilling into ditches along the side of highway, are a commen sight along the road. By Greg Middleton An all-time record high overnight rainfall, combined with melting snow, which resulted § in exceptional _— run-off, saw most roads in this area cut Wednesday by either rising water or washouts. George Blakey of the Atmospheric En- vironment Service at the Terrace-Kitimat Airport said that while the worst of the rain is over, water levels will continue to rise as water comes off the mountains. In addition to the In some sections of the highway, streams rushing along ihe ditches of the road are. errading the shoulders of the highway. Rivers in the area are quickly rising as heavy rains create similar conditions to snow melting suddenly in the mountains during the spring months. peer The Copper River was a rushing mass of brown water littered with the debris of trees being washed Into the Skeena River. Highway conditions are too poor for driving. A police car and a tow truck were stopped at the washout on Highway 16 East while they were responding to a motor vehicle accident further down the highway. Although highways crews were out working along the highway there was no work activity at the washout which cut the highway. The creek which is creating the washout is apparently too high for the bridge over it. PO WER AND TELEPHONE LINES DOWN All major roads are washed out rain, about 190 millimetres or six inches in two days, winds ranged in the 70 to 80 kilometre-an-hour range with gusts up to 90 and and took down telephone and hydro poles and hampered attempts to deal with the flooding. The native village of Kitimat was com- pletely isolated Wednesday morning when the bridge across the Wahtle Creek washed out. Chief Heber Maitland said most of the 20 homes in the village had about four feet of water in the basement. Residents rescued Terrace RCMP = and meinbers of the provincial emergency program began evacuating people from Lakelse Lake Wednesday at 9am: F Staff Sergeant Dick Latta said the police had two boats on the lake and rescue operations were to be con- tinued during the early hours this mnorning: v: Latta said police. were concerned about’ : three children at Rosswood who may need to be evacuated. One child was sick and reads are closed to the north and to the south because of heavy ins, The people of Remo were standing by to be evacuated Wednesday night. The road Relief promised to Remo is closed because of washouts, Latta said residents were remaining at their homes hoping that they would not have to leave them. Kitimat RCMP asked residents in the Vista Village Trailer Court to be prepared for evacuation Wednesday night. The court is situated in the lower city centre area. Corp, Herb Schmidt said the main worry was the high tide at about 2:15 a.m. this morning. The tide was ex- pected to be in excess of 20 feat. - i . Police blocked off the Kuldo Extension Road as a safeguard against falling ‘ trees. “One end of the bridge collapsed,’’ Maitland said in a telephone _ interview. “It backed up the water which flooded the homes. If the bridge hadn’t collapsed we wouldn’t have had the problems we have.” Maitland said the power was out and the floodwaters were threatening the Alcan power line on the other side of the creek from the Village. An Alcan spokesman, however, said there was ho immediate danger of losing the pole, which Cyrll Shelford, Skeena MLA, said Wednesday ° he will ask Victoria ta send disaster relief fo: Kitimat Village. The road’ to: the village is washed out, power lines are down and basements are fleading. —- Kitimat Band Chief Heber Maitland phoned local MLA Cyril Shelford’Wednesday {o nolify him of the situation in the village and was passed on to the visiting cabinet minister who was bere for a highways department conference. Homeowners find new ‘carries the main feeder line into Alcan and Kitimat, He said the water was still 40- feet from the pole and acrew had been able to get to the site by bulldozer.. The crew had been working all day on erosion protection. Maitland expressed considerable concern over the possibility that rising water would result in the now isolated village losing its water supply. While Terrace city works crews were out in full force to battle flooding in the city, chan Heavy rains created this lake in the front yard of Kolbjorn Eide at 4214 Terrace on Wednesday. North Sparks St. in The rains have caused areas like Lakelse Lake to be evacuated and most of the highways to be closed because of washouts. Kitimat city works superintendent Bob Hoel said there wasn't much damage there. He said water was high and some basements were flooded. Kitimat River was high and a high tide in the Douglas Channel was expected to back water up even more. Wednesday afternoon the water was into Radley Fark and Hirsch Creek Park. The provincial high- ways department said Wednesday that High- way 25 was cut around Williams Creek by high water while High- way 16 was cut off about 2) miles east of Terrace by a slide. Highway 16 West was under water in places but the water was expected to recede as low tides take pressure of the rivers. Highway 3? North was closed by washouts. The washouts were north of Kitwanga. The -Nass River Road was also closed due to washouts as was the Kalum Lake Road. Closer to Terrace, Old Lakelse Road, near Ollies Restaurant was closed by washouts. pa a i a we AT OPEN MEETING | | Fraser hears complaints from locals from Terrace. one police officer. Oliver Creek. Three injured , trapped by water Three injured people were trapped Wednesday night between two washed out sections of Highway 16 East about 37 miles Terrace RCMP said one person is suf. fering from head injuries, one person is suffering from neck injuries and one person was knocked unconscious as the result of an aufomibije accident. because of communications problems, said Details are vaque Legate Creek, Chindemash Creek and Little Oliver Creek have washed out sec. tions of Highway 16 which made it im. possible for rescue crews to reach the scene af the accident, a few miles west of Little Police said that although the people may have been in serious condition they agreed to remain where they were until dawn this morning when a rescue helicopler could get to them. Police said they were kecping in: communication with a highway crew which also with fhe trapped victims. A B.C. Tel spokesman said trees were down across telephone lines and the washouts in the Lakelse Lake Road area were adding to the problem. He said he expected more poles down in that area but the company would keep some kind of service even if it was a mobile unit. The phone service Wednesday was out in some parts of Kitimat as well as in most of Terrace at press time. Kitwanga still had Jocal service Wed- nesday but the long- distance service had been cut off. Crews were, however, working to repair that. In addition to telephone links being cut, telex and the Herald's Canadian Press wire was down. Planes didn’t land in Terrace Wednesday morning and passengers, including Highways Minister Alex Fraser, were bussed to Terrace before the roads closed. Landings for the rest of the day and Thursday will depend on the weather and it will be marginal a weather office official said, about water Many homes in Greater Terrace are quickly being surrounded by small lakes and many residents are discovering the added problem of flooded basements. Kalbjorn Eide, of 4214 North Sparks St, says there is asmall lake that is 60-feet wide, 250-feet long and about four-feet deep encroaching onte the south side of his property. There ig another small lake that is 30-feet wide and 150-feet long on the north part of his property. Water is flowing through his front yard from narth to south, He said the water comes from other properties to the north of his und the problem could be substantially reduced if the municipality would pula gutler along (he road, Bide said he put a culvert under his driveway to funnel water from the north side to the south side of his property. He experiences similar kinds of flood six times each year, he said. Eide says he is getting poor service from the municipality and this year his taxes went up 25 percent, He has asked the municipality to put drainage along the street but he was refused, he said. Cyril Shelford, MLA for Skeena, said his office is handling complaints from people living in Tnornhill and other unorganized areas, A department of highways spokesman compared the oroblem to a roof leaking. ‘You cannot fix it while it's taining; you have to wail anti the rain is over,” he said. Alex Fraser, minister of highways, heard two com- plaints from residents living n Thornhill and Copperside Estates during a Social credit luncheon in Terrace Wednesday. A man living at Copperside Estales said his area floods three to four limes a year and the department of high- ways does not seem lo act on complaints from residents. He said the area is not listed as a flood area and yet the problem keeps reoccuring.