The Cariboo Regional District provided a brief update on the landslide near Farwell Canyon this morning (August 1st).
Chair, Margo Wagner says the landslide has completely blocked the Chilcotin River around 20 kilometres upstream from the Farwell Canyon Bridge, and roughly 69 kilometres west from Williams Lake.
Wagner says people need to stay away from the site, as water continues to go up the 30 metres high and 600 metres long slide.
“Flooding is building up above the dam created by the landslide, so it’s like a lake, and there is a high-risk of a flash flood downstream if the river breaches that landslide.” says Wagner.
“Evacuation Orders are in place around the slide site and down river to the Fraser River, where further actions have been taken to protect public safety.”
Wagner added that they’re unsure as to when the landslide will let go, but the current estimate is within the next 24 to 48 hours.
It would be either one of two ways, the first being the water would rise and go over the top, or there would be a small fisher develop in some soil, and water would start oozing through and eventually give way.
Wagner says that there’s no specific geotechnical information due to the area being unstable, but it’s known that the slide occurred on a burned out area of the Chilcotin River banks from the 2017 fires.
With trees being dead and the root system not absorbing water, it causes problems for a sand-based area.
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