Canadian Landslide Rescue Turns to Recovery
Crews have found the body of one of four people missing in a massive landslide in southeastern British Columbia.
Officials say the rescue mission is now a recovery operation.
At least three homes were crushed by the slide in the tiny hamlet of Johnsons Landing on Thursday.
Police say what appears to be the body of a man was found near a home swept away by the slide. They continue to look for the bodies of three others believed to be buried in the slide. Two sisters, 17 and 22-year-old Rachel and Diana Webber, and their father Val Webber have been missing since the slide hit.
A female German tourist was also believed to have been caught in the debris.
Bill Macpherson of the Central Kootenay Regional District said the slope of mud, trees and other debris was deemed stable enough on Sunday for rescue workers to head back to Johnson's Landing.
Macpherson said geotechnicians were on scene to monitor the mud's movements and make decisions regarding the safety of the operation as rescuers moved through the debris.
"They're doing a grid-style search and they're focusing on the high probability locations where they hope to find these people, using GPS, mapping and the best information from local residents," he said. The B.C. Ministry of Forests said on the weekend that it had received an email from a Johnson's Landing resident the morning the slide occurred expressing concern about a mountainside creek.
In the email the woman, whose name was not released by the ministry, said she noticed "surges of chocolate-coloured water that came down Gar Creek," each bringing down a significant number of logs and debris and causing a jam.
"As soon as the log jam formed, gravel began to be deposited behind it," she said. "The entire level of the creekbed has now been raised at least (1.8 metres) in that area."
The woman wrote later the whole creek was flowing over and down her driveway and made reference to a conversation with a friend who had search and rescue experience who told her to stay on high ground.
Hours later, the mountainside gave way.
Copyright 2012 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
