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JANUARY 31, 2013
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Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
Mudslide odds one in 500 B RON Z E
Fairmont “debris flow” created by a perfect storm of events not likely to happen again within the next 500 years SA LLY MAC DONAL D Townsman Staff
The mudslide that hit Fairmont Hot Springs last July was a once in 500 years event. The finding was made in a technical report set to be accepted by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors on Friday, February 1. The Fairmont Creek risk assessment found that the July 15, 2012 mudslide was not caused by a temporary dam near the creek’s head-
waters, as emergency responders believed at the time. In fact, the mudslide’s cause was cumulative, attributed to heavy rain falling on a higher than normal snowpack. “Rather than any single trigger factor, the 2012 debris flow is judged to have initiated by progressive destabilization of abundant bedload in the mainstem channel by a locally-intensive convective rainstorm at a time when soils were al-
At its fastest, the Fairmont mudslide was travelling at 22 kilometres an hour. At the 2012 London Olympics, Usain Bolt ran 100 metres in 9.58 seconds, which is the equivalent of 37.58 kilometres an hour.
ready saturated from an unusually wet spring,” reads the report. “I was surprised that the report noted the event was a 500 year event, while at the same time it mentioned other minor slide events that have occurred within the past 50 years. That was news to me,” said Area F board director Wendy Booth. Fairmont Creek flows for seven kilometres from the peak of Fairmont Mountain, at an elevation of 2,600 me-
DAN MILS PHOTO
NOT QUITE URBANIZED — YET: Two big bruisers are pictured taking a mid-winter stroll around the edge of Cranbrook, foraging and getting ready for spring. Cranbrook has several elk herds in the vicinity, all part of the ungulate neigbourhood we live in.
www.dailytownsman.com
Nelson proposed addition to riding
tres, to the Columbia River, at an elevation of 820 metres. At its headwaters, the creek runs through steep, bedrock-controlled channels. Downstream, it transitions to a lower gradient channel before flowing through Marble Canyon. Leading up to the July mudslide, snow pillow stations nearby reported a winter snow pack up to 170 per cent above normal. Then, starting in mid-May, there was a rapid snow melt. Finally, in the days before July 15, a localized storm cell brought between 20 and 26.4 millimetres of rain. All of these factors led to the dangerous mudslide that tour through Fairmont at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, 2012. An estimated 65,000 cubic metres of debris came down the creek at speeds up to 22 kilometres an hour. It buried the hot springs source wells under seven metres of debris, washed out the RV park access road, severely damaged a foot bridge to the RV park, filled Marble Canyon with several metres of rock and debris, washed away a walking trail, and inundated several homes with mud, rock and debris. More than 350 people were temporarily evacuated. The water source for Fairmont Hot Springs Resort and Mountainside Golf Course was lost, forcing the resort to close for three weeks during peak season, leading to a $1.5 million loss of revenue. Seven holes of the golf course were affected.
There was no where to go but west when the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission began looking into shuffling B.C.’s ridings. The commission tabled its report in the House of Commons on Monday, recommending that Nelson be included in the riding of Kootenay – Columbia. The changes are necessary to accommodate B.C.’s growing population, which has grown from 3.9 million people to 4.4 million since the boundaries were last shuffled in 2002. MP for Kootenay – Columbia David Wilks said having Nelson in his riding was expected as the size had to be brought up to include 105,000 people. “It wasn’t surprising to me,” he said. “We’re right next to the Alberta border. There was only one place they could move – and that’s west.”
See FAIRMONT , Page 5
See RIDING , Page 3
Report tabled in House of Commons includes parts of West Kootenay as electoral areas shuffle ANNALEE GR ANT Townsman staff