NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 | CAMPBELL RIVER MIRROR |
A9
Highway 19 reopened after landslides cleared J.R. RARDON BLACK PRESS
Weekend visitors to North Vancouver Island, including several women’s and youth hockey teams, were stranded for a day and a half after a series of landslides late Saturday night forced the closure of Highway 19 between Beaver Cove Junction, just south of Port McNeill, and Sayward Junction. The highway r e o p e n e d M o n d ay afternoon to singlelane, alternating traffic as work continued to clear and secure the roadway. Those prevented from returning to their permanent residences by the slides were eligible for vouchers through E m e r g e n cy S o c i a l Services centres set up Monday afternoon in Port Hardy, Port
McNeill and Campbell River, said Chuck Lok, local coordinator for the Provincial Emergency Program. “There is some assistance available for meals and accomodations for travelers unable to return home to their permanent residence,” said Lok. “If people are simply in transit while on vacation, they’re normally not eligible.” Last week’s weather caused several additional travel disruptions. Traffic on Highway 30 between Port Alice and the Highway 19 junction was reduced Sunday to intermittent, singlelane alternating traffic due to heavy flooding. And BC Ferries was forced to suspend service on the Tri-Island route between Port McNeill, Malcolm Island and Cormorant Island for most of the
day Saturday as heavy winds battered the B.C. coast. The road from Port Hardy to Holberg also remained closed Monday afternoon due to mudslides, though Western Forest Products is running a supply boat from Coal Harbour to Holberg. The Holberg to Winter Harbour Road remains open. The slides on Highway 19, which closed 115 kilometres of roadway, were triggered by torrential rains that fell Friday evening and throughout the day and night Saturday. There were at least six slides on the highway between Woss and Sayward, said one Emcon worker who had been on site early Sunday. Three of those were major slides that will require more than 30 hours to clear enough to allow the single lane
of traffic to pass. “I guess we’re going back to the Haida Way and hang out there for a day or two,” Parksville’s Gail Downey said Sunday afternoon. Downey was one of a number of parents who accompanied the Oceanside Generals peewee hockey team for games in Port Alice and Port McNeill this weekend. “We’ve been checking around, and there’s a bowling alley in Port Hardy. We’ll probably go to the lounge later to watch the Grey Cup.” Three women’s hockey teams in Port Hardy for the annual Wild Women’s tournament were stuck following Sunday’s playoffs. Two players with young children at home and no backup child-care plan actually flew to Vancouver Sunday to catch a ferry back to the Island
below the slides. Fourteen more chartered a flight Monday morning, but players who drove their vehicles to Port Hardy remained stranded. “One of the girls was telling me her $300 tournament was now a $600 tournament,” said Marnie Ordano of the host Port Hardy Wild team, who was scrambling to help the stranded players with food and accomodations. “I’ve got six girls on my team willing to make food, like pots of chili and soup. But we’re looking for a place to take it that they can come to eat.” The road closure has disrupted not only child care, but work and school schedules as well. The women’s hockey players in Port Hardy include a number of locals who attend col-
le ge or university down-Island and who were home just for the weekend. Hockey teams are stuck on both sides of the closure. The North Island Eagles midgets appeared headed to Nanaimo following their game Sunday in Port Alberni and will remain downIsland until the road is reopened. The PHSS wrestling team, however, managed to slip through before the slides came down, after competing in the first meet of the season Saturday in Duncan. “We got in (Saturday) night about 11:30,” PHSS wrestling coach Joe Humphreys said while watching the hockey in Port Hardy Sunday. “Apparently we just missed the closure.” The flooding and slides were the lat-
est in several days of weather-related disruptions on the North Island late last week. An extreme high tide combined with heavy onshore winds Thursday undermined a coastal home on the Fort Rupert Reserve, threatening to topple it into the water. A f t e r vo l u n t e e r s hastily removed belongings, workers with heavy equipment – including a backhoe and small bulldozer – attempted to preserve the home by fortifying the seawall with large rocks and logs. Also, power was knocked out to homes in Nimpkish Heights and Hyde Creek south of Port McNeill for about two hours during Friday’s high winds. For updated information on the highway closure, visit DriveBC at www.drivebc.ca
3X5
FABRICLAND ULTIMATE SALE December 2nd - 4th • Members
Dec. 2nd - 4th
FABRICS
50-70
%
NOTIONS All stock including thread.
RENÉE ANDOR/THE MIRROR
Free hot cuppa Salvation Army Captain Gord Taylor, right, fills up Katherine McEwan’s cup with free hot chocolate in the Walmart foyer on Friday during the kick-off of the Christmas kettle campaign. The Salvation Army still needs volunteers for kettle shifts. Anyone interested can contact Tami at 250-202-2752 or 250-287-3720.
OFF Reg. Price
50
KWIK SEW PATTERNS $ Until December 30th
%
OFF
FABRICS NOTIONS BATTING PATTERNS & BOOKS %
30 8 Reg. Price
99
ea.
OFF
Reg. Price
Does not include Red Barn Products. *Refers to Fabricland Sewing Club Members* Some exclusions may apply.
CAMPBELL RIVER • HOMEWOOD RD • 250-286-3600 ~ Locally Owned & Operated ~
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