Mudslide destroys 2 homes, causes injuries in Shuswap

A mudslide has destroyed two houses in the small Shuswap community of Tappen and caused the evacuations of four more.

The fire chief of the community, Kyle Schneider, said one of the houses on Sunnybrae-CanoePointRoad was cut in half by tumbling trees and boulders.

B.C. Emergency Health Services says two ambulances were dispatched to the scene and took two people with minor injuries to hospital in Salmon Arm.

John Worralllives in the area and observed the damage.

"I was going northbound along SunnybraeRoad, which is the lakeside road, and saw some people on a corner, and what looked like a house collapsed, and a whole lot of mud," he said."I think there was a vehicle up there, and there were one or two people standing on the road looking quite distressed."

Tappen is a community on the shore of Shuswap Lake about a 15 minute drive north of Salmon Arm.

Rounds of heavy rain have been moving through the area since early Friday morning.