Helicopter report, An extensive mudslide has Highway 1 closed in both directions at Popkum Road in the Hope area for an indefinite period of time.
The slide happened approximately 100 meters from the Herring Island exit this morning. It measures 25 feet deep and 200 feet long.
Police say one car can been seen caught up in the slide, but all occupants are safe and accounted for.
After a preliminary ground search, crews did not locate any additional cars under the slide, but police say the depth of the mud and debris make it difficult to complete the search.
It appears a CN train was struck by debris, but wasn't derailed or significantly damaged. No one on board appears to have been injured.
RCMP have confirmed that no homes were caught in the slide as previously reported.
Heavy equipment will be moving in next to clear the debris.
Meanwhile, traffic is being diverted to Highway 7 via Highway 9 through Agassiz. The Ministry of Transportation says the highway is expected to be re-opened by midnight on Thursday.
Search and rescue crews had little to show after a ground search of a 60-metre wide mudslide on the Trans-Canada Highway between Chilliwack and Hope Wednesday afternoon.
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen said police, fire and search and rescue teams scoured the area, battling the deluge of mud and debris — said to be eight metres deep — that tore through the stretch of highway near Popkum Road shortly after 10 a.m.
Crews found one vehicle stuck in the mud and retrieved all occupants "relatively uninjured."
Thiessen said the rescue team, after finished the ground search, planned to bring in heavy equipment to sift through the debris-laden highway "to determine if any vehicles or individuals are trapped under the slide."
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, rescue crews were forced out of the area after unstable debris made it "virtually impossible" to inspect the mud-covered highway. Ministry of Transportation engineers and geological technicians then used Lower Mainland Traffic Safety helicopter Air 1 — originally brought in to assist with an aerial survey of the slide — to determine when rescue operations could resume.
About 20 CN Rail cars were also caught in the morning slide. The container train, headed westbound toward Deltaport, was struck by the slide about 20 km east of Chilliwack. CN spokeswoman Kelli Svendsen said no cars were derailed and no CN workers were injured.
For B.C. Attorney-General Barry Penner -- who grew up in Chilliwack and represents Chilliwack-Hope in legislature -- the location of the slide comes as little surprise.
"This is an area that's prone to landslides," said Penner, who was on site Wednesday afternoon to view the damage. "The Ministry of Transportation has spent a lot of money of the years making the area safer, but we live in a very mountainous province and at times, mother nature is stronger than all of us."
In June 2000, a mudslide ripped the same stretch of highway between Chilliwack and Hope. No injuries were reported and both westbound and eastbound lanes were cleared within a day. In January 2002, a more devastating mudslide -- provoked by a winter storm -- struck the Trans-Canada Highway and surrounding areas in Hope and Chilliwack. According to previous reports, the storm and ensuing slide caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to roads, homes and businesses in the area.
According to Environment Canada meteorologist David Jonas, mudslides are often triggered by heavy, prolonged rainfall — usually between October and December. He said the "relatively dry" weather in the area indicates that the mudslide could have been triggered by something.
"It's been relatively dry. There's been no massive rainfalls in the preceding days, weeks or even a month," Jones said. "I'm the sure weather has something to do with it, but there's something else as well."
Penner said he thought the melting snow pack and steep, rocky slopes near the highway contributed to the slide.
According to Thiessen, no homes were affected by the Wednesday morning mudslide, but both directions of the highway remained closed Wednesday evening.
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Colima hyperconcentrated flow (lahar)by volcan01010blog5,142 views
well someone was clearly hiking and couldn't make it to a bathroom ;)
TheAndroidNerd 2 days ago
If you drive a Hummer, that is just a small speed-bump.
Mattthewinner 2 weeks ago
this is the result of Kim K. and some burritos.
davidWgruUP909 3 months ago 2
As a result of the traffic disruption, motels saw extra service and many local gals were knocked-up by truckers, etc. The population of Hope now rests at a stable 4 000 000.
seapeddler 5 months ago
thats not good
Those2Weirdoz 7 months ago
@Accountgamer u can take hwy. 7 as an alternate route
Daftpunk369 7 months ago
Crazy guess I'll be spending couple more nights in vancouver..
Accountgamer 7 months ago