Sylvie Paillard
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Residents and travellers were ambushed by raging weather for the second time in two weeks on Wednesday (Nov. 15), after torrential rain and wind caused unsafe conditions and major problems throughout the Sea to Sky corridor.
Wednesday's severe winds and 140-millimetre rainfall caused floods, rockslides and falling trees, forcing emergency workers to close Highway 99 from Valley Dr. to Horseshoe Bay for five hours, and severing Valleycliffe from the rest of Squamish for two days.
"Some of our members mentioned that it was very terrifying to be out there [on the highway] because you could hear the rocks scrambling down and the trees snapping while you're trying to direct somebody off the roadway," said RCMP Cpl. Dave Ritchie.
The only injury was sustained when a rock struck a Chevy Astrovan, leaving one man in Lions Gate hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
In an effort to avoid other injuries, however, West Vancouver police evacuated the Seascape development near Lions Bay, which was threatened by large falling trees.The severity of the winds didn't quite reach Squamish but they were nonetheless strong enough to snap branches off trees and damage power lines.
Downed lines to Powerhouse Springs above Valleycliffe caused headaches when the well system shut down and staff couldn't immediately reach the area due to street flooding.
"We have a generator up there that we were able to get going so that was back on stream," said district manager of operations Gord Prescott. "But we are currently facing some silt in the water system."
Prescott said the district may issue a boil water advisory and recommended residents listen to the radio or check the district website (www.squamish.ca) for updates.
Large volumes of rain - which outdid the one-day amount that caused severe floods in 2003 - caused operations staff to scramble from one emergency to another.
"We're chasing down a lot of issues," said Prescott. "Nobody's prepared for that volume."
By Wednesday evening, the Little Stawamus River had burst its banks to flood Valleycliffe's main artery, Guilford Drive, and a series of mudslides on Mamquam Forest Service severed the only alternate route in or out of the neighbourhood.
The street flooding caused chaos Thursday morning when neighbourhood children had to trek up to Hospital Hill to catch school busses.
As the Chief went to press on Thursday afternoon, Guilford Dr. remained closed until further notice, but operations staff had cleared Mamquam Forest Service Road to traffic.
Flooding also plagued homeowners throughout the municipality, and ditches filled to the brim caused some residents to fear for children young enough to drown in four feet of water.
BC Hydro spokesperson Elisha Moreno said Squamish got off easy with a power outage that only lasted from 11:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and affected 5,000 residents and businesses.
"It's like you've got a little haven over there," she said on Wednesday afternoon. "You could be on Vancouver Island right now where they've been without power since 5:30 a.m."
