A B.C. woman died in a landslide after a storm. Local experts are re-evaluating weather risks - Action News
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A B.C. woman died in a landslide after a storm. Local experts are re-evaluating weather risks

At least four people lost their lives after devastating mudslides and landslides in the wake of a severe storm in B.C. in late October. Scientists warn they could become more common.

Radio-Canada went out with geoscientists to Coquitlam, where Sonya McIntyre's home was swept away

A shoe sits among leaves and debris on muddy ground.
This shoe was left behind in the wreckage of the home of Sonya McIntyre, who died after a mudslide swept her home away following torrential rains in Coquitlam, B.C, in late October. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

At least four people lost their lives after devastating mudslides and landslides in the wake of a severe storm in B.C. in late October. Scientists say they could become more common.

One of themwas Sonya McIntyre, 57, a beloved local elementary school teacher whose house was completely ripped from its foundation in a mudslide in the Quarry Road area. It took rescuers days to confirm that she had died.

Accompanied by geoscientists,Radio-Canada's Camille Vernet went to the site where McIntyre's house once stood to find wreckage and debris still standing there along with a small memorial to the dead woman.

Scientists say that the frequency of atmospheric rivers, which brought hundreds of millimetres of rain to Coquitlamand caused the mudslides, is likely to increase as the world warms.

WATCH | Radio-Canada goes to the site of a fatal B.C. mudslide:

What caused the landslide that killed a Coquitlam woman?

9 hours ago
Duration 3:25
Geoscientists investigate what factors led part of a mountain to give way and knock a Coquitlam home off its foundation, killing 57-year-old teacher Sonya McIntyre. Experts are working with municipalities to assess and map areas in danger of more landslides as extreme rain from atmospheric rivers becomes more common due to climate change.

"If we have more frequent landslides, then the high-hazard zones will expand," said Brett Eaton, a professor emeritus in the University of B.C.'s geography department.

"And it's possible if we get larger landslides, that the low hazard zones ... may expand as well."

Eaton says that municipalities can mitigate against the hazard of mudslides by building structures that redirect or trap the sediment that comes down slopes away from human settlements.

"But the most important thing we can do is to modify our development plans to ensure that we are not increasing the risk. We are not putting more people in harm's way," he said.

A spokesperson for the City of Coquitlam in an emailed statement that the risks associated with climate change were currently being identified in the Metro Vancouver community.

A small bouquet of flowers lies on a post, surrounded by wreckage and debris.
The wreckage of the home of Sonya McIntyre, who passed away after a mudslide swept her home away following torrential rains on Quarry Road in Coquitlam, B.C, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Debris and an upturned house are pictured in the woods.
McIntyre's house was ripped from its foundations and travelled down a mountain in the Quarry Road area. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
A sea of debris is seen over a house in the woods.
A large landslide carried away McIntyre's home after more than 200 millimetres of rain fell on Coquitlam in two days. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

With files from Radio-Canada's Camille Vernet