EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
Mudslide closes highway, causes power failure Page 2
ERS students get taste of culinary arts Page 7
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Vol. 53 No. 18 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (HST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Community effort averts flood risk Byy Lachlan ac la Labere abe e Eagle Valley News
G
wen Stead was awash with pride in her community Friday morning after an army of family, friends and folkss she didn’t know worked through the night to keep her flooding house from fl ooding. The rain was relentless Thursday, April 26, pouring heavily throughout the day. This, combined with higher temperatures, resulted in a rapid rise in stream and river levels in the region, including Owl Head Creek, which runs right behind Stead’s Kerr Road property. Late that afternoon, Stead recalls checking a water-level marker she has in the creek. Though it hadn’t yet reached the recorded high mark, Stead says she’d never seen the water flowing as fast as it was. She checked again an hour later and the water had come up about a foot. At this point, she became very concerned. Stead called her son, and then her neighbour, Christine Dunbar checked in on her. A call was made to the fire department and soon after, there were firefighters on her block, checking in with her neighbour Craig Himmler. Water had escaped the creek’s bank and flooded into his yard and basement, about a foot deep. “Christine came over and said, ‘don’t worry, help is on the way,’” said Stead. And in no time, Stead says she had a small army on hand of neighbours, relatives, family friends and even complete strangers ready to assist. Darin Northway donated and dropped off two donated truckloads of sand, one at Himmler’s, which was used to build a berm, and the other in front of Stead’s which was used to fill sandbags. Meanwhile, the rain had caused a mud slide near Salmon Arm that knocked out a hydro pole, leaving Sicamous residents, including Stead, without power. Stead says she was advised by Sicamous Fire Chief Brett Ogino not to stay in her home that night, that if there was a cave-in further up the creek or a damn built up and broke, the flooding would be a lot more severe. “He said you could have 20 feet of water roaring over, and he advised me not to stay the night here,” said Stead. “Our biggest concern was that it was going to get worse,” commented Ogino. “When we got our second call for the mud slide, you could see that it (the creek) was picking up speed even then.” Regardless, Stead stayed to help out with the sandbagging effort. At one point, Stead says she became so emotional she wanted to cry, not for the rising water that threatened her home, but for the community support that came without question or hesitation. Without complaint, they worked hard throughout the night and into the morning, in the cold rain and mud, with little light, tying sandbags until their fingers bled, to build a wall across her backyard. “You could see they were sore. I felt so bad. They were all really sore this morning and tired,” says Stead. The next day, Friday, the sun was out and the creek, though still flowing fast, had subsided substantially. There was still a crowd at the Stead’s place, though much See Residents on page 3
Eyeing the aftermath: Above – Craig Himmler clears out debris holding up water behind his pump house. Below – Hank Shelley and Gwen Stead monitor Owl Head Creek from behind a wall of sandbags around Stead’s backyard. Photos by Lachlan Labere