'Massive' Chilcotin River landslide in BC could cause flash flooding in next 24 to 48 hours

A huge landslide blocking the Chilcotin River in British Columbia has forced the evacuation of a dozen homes and prompted a flood warning from the site of the slide, down the Fraser River all the way to Hope.

Emergency officials said the landslide is expected to cause flash flooding downstream when the river breaches the slide area.

On Tuesday, the Cariboo Regional District said the timeline of the breach is unknown but believe it could happen within the next 24 to 48 hours.

As Troy Charles reports, the warning is stark and the danger of a catastrophic flood is growing every hour.

#GlobalNews #ChilcotinRiver #Landslide #BC #Flooding

[gravytrainoutdoors]

The Chilcotin was flowing 200m3 per second prior to the landslide. The slide is composed of fine grained low cohesive soils. It’s unlikely that it will open up in the middle or sides of the dam as those soils aren’t as susceptible to water piping. Its going to fail in a top over mode of failure and those low cohesive sediments are going to be transported downstream rapidly. If this dam doesn’t open up very soon we will be talking about cubic kilometers of water being dammed up within several weeks. There is probably several cubic kilometers of storage capacity upstream of the landslide dam before the water levels even approach the level required to over top the dam. I hope I’m wrong and that the water finds a way soon. The alternative is truly terrifying.

[tippyc]

They're preparing for the possibility of a breach? Bruh, a breach is _going to happen._ The possibility is 100%.

[jeremymacdonald]

in the 1800s the fraser river had a slide by Jesmond ferry crossing at big bar
. it filled for three days. then there was a pop and it started flowing again.

[terryatpi]

Royal Canadian Air Force with bunker busting bombs ?

[garywagner]

You mean the landscape changed on its own, without permission from the government?! Are you suggesting this has happened before (millions of times)? The nerve!

[corey]

Mother nature does whatever she wants. We just get in the way sometimes.

[polarbear]

Why cant they simply dynamite it and create a spillway.

[rRobertSmith]

The Canadian Air Force now has a new target, or a few truck loads of dynamite and a days work.

[lostmoose]

Fires, flodding, landslides...
whats next on the list - avalanches or earthquakes?

[lucasmacewan]

That is an incredible amount of material!

[TheCrunch]

Nice touch on the mention of a fire 7 years ago keep us scared

[paulcharpentier]

We have a Canadian Air Force that could have used ordinance to open up that slide way before it got to this point

[mnmike]

Make a breech now before the lake gets bigger and higher!

[MikeyV]

Great time to pan the dry riverbed for GOLD.

[josephnewman]

Alright boys get your goldpans ready lol

[westernstateswaterreplenis]

If they had the military drop charges on it until a new water way has formed, it could have been open again within 6 hours. Problem solved and still a lot of clean up to do. Also the military could have some live ordnance practice. I am not sure why they would let it dam up like that and put a lot of people at risk? It is a hell of a mess now, but it is only going to get a LOT worse and very fast.

[byrd-is-the-word]

Wela'lin [thank you] for not shutting off the comments like CBC just did .. I always give them a thumbs down when they do that as opposed to the thumbs up or a 'like' which I just gave Global for your excellent journalism ..

[jameshayes]

I totally understand the safety of the citizens, however, I believe this will not break in 24 - 48 hours as the slide is quite large. I say they have weeks, having said that, they should still listen to the professionals.

[bandittelevision]

You guys dont have any new or better video footage?

[drawyrral]

These slides have been happening for millions of years. This one is too big to just give way and let a torrent of water and debris downstream. It will cut a new channel and go back to what it was before the slide.