Landslide risk in Quesnel prompts evacuation order, trail closures - Action News
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British Columbia

Landslide risk in Quesnel prompts evacuation order, trail closures

Five properties in a hillside neighbourhood of Quesnel are affected by evacuation alerts and orders.

5 properties in a hillside neighbourhood are affected by evacuation alerts or orders

This house is one of four properties under evacuation alert issued by the City of Quesnel on Monday. Another house on the same road is under evacuation order. (Google Streetview)

The City of Quesnel, B.C., has declared a localstate of emergency for a hillside neighbourhood due to landslide risk.

On Monday, the Cariboo municipality issued an evacuation order to a house located on Panorama Ridge southeast of downtown where residents won't be allowed to returnuntil the structure is deemed safe byengineers.

An evacuation alert was also issued forfour other properties along the same road, meaningresidents must be ready to leave on short notice.

Panorama Ridge is an upscale residential area with views of downtown and the Quesnel River.

The city has also prohibitedany use of the trails below Panorama Ridge.

"To ensure public safety, residents are being asked to stay away from emergency affected areas and obey all warning and hazard signs for their own safety and for the safety of city crews," the city's press release said.

Concerning landslide risk

Byron Johnson, Quesnel's city manager and emergency operations centre director, says the owner of the evacuated propertydiscovered land movement under the house over the weekend.

"The owner of this property noticed there seemed to be some shifting of the house," Johnson said. "[He] couldn't open the doors when he got out of the house and looked around outside. [He] noticed some substantial cracking in the ground and some movement."

Johnson says he's very concerned about the property under evacuation order because he has never seen a landslide impacting the infrastructure of a residence.

"Prior to that, it was some slide along on the outside of the properties, which didn't impact houses," he said.

A car is partially buried in mud.
A car stuck in the mud along West Fraser Road in Quesnel after washouts and slides in 2018. (Steve Anderson)

Quesnel has been affected by spring landslides over the years. Last May, eight properties on Maple Drive, south of downtown were issued an evacuation order and alert due to risk of a slide from flooding.

In 2018, washouts took out several parts of the West Fraser Road on the other side of the Quesnel River, forcing people to take a lengthy detour that addedhours to their commute and the school bus route.

Now the city is also evaluating the land movement at Carson Elementary School near the river, where land slippage happened outsidethe fenced school field.

The city encourages its residents to sign up for the Cariboo Chilcotin emergency notification system to receive texts, calls or emails on the latest evacuation orders and alerts.


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With files from Betsy Trumpener and Canadian Press