Residents of evacuated Northern B.C. community could be out of their homes for months

Residents of an evacuated Northern B.C. community could be away from their homes until the summer, an expert said at a sometimes heated public meeting Monday morning.

Old Fort, a community of about 200 residents south of Fort St. John, was ordered evacuated Sunday after a slow-moving landslide cut off the only road to the subdivision a week earlier.

Rhonda Mellafont, an engineering geologist retained by the Peace River Regional District, told evacuees that the slide was still moving at least four metres a day in several directions. That is why she recommended officials evacuate the entire subdivision.

"These landslides tend to continue to evolve and they're very unpredictable," Mellafont said.

"It's hard for us to say exactly which parts of it are going to let go, which ones aren't, and how it's going to affect the land around it.

"Based on everything that we've seen in here so far, it's not safe for habitation in that area right now."

Danger holding up road work

Mellafont said there are many unknowns about this slide and a proper investigation can't proceed until the earth stops moving.

The slide, she told residents gathered in Fort St. John's Stonebridge Hotel, is moving in at least three directions as of Monday and travelling at least four metres a day but usually closer to between five to 10 metres a day.

Using a laser pointer, she circled aerial photographs of the slide where tension cracks had becomevisible. Those, she said, could be signs of further hill instability and danger to the community.

And, as winter and spring roll around, the hills will be hit with more precipitation and the soils will begin to first freeze before later thawing out.

Those dangers, Ministry of Transport director Scott Maxwell said, were stopping crews from building another road or other access method into Old Fort.

He said crews were looking at several approaches for building a new road into the community or even a bridge over the Peace River but safety concerns were holding up work.

"This is not a question of resources," Maxwell said. "If we had to park equipment and vehicles and re-establish this road on a daily basis, we would do so."

Some residents not buying it

Many displaced residents expressed anger at the Monday meeting when they heard they could be away from their homes for some time.

Some questioned the credibility of the experts recommending the evacuation. Others said the landslide danger was nothing new and this slide was not a great threat.

"A snail moves faster than this slide," one man said when chosen to speak. "We can see it, but it's far away."

Others felt their concerns were not being taken seriously by decision makers.

"We live down there," a woman said. "We deserve to be involved, and we feel you guys are just brushing us off to the side."

The major concerns heard at Monday's meeting were about how people can get their left-behind belongings, including medicine and pets, and, if an extended absence comes to pass, how they will get their homes ready for winter.

Trish Morgan, speaking for the regional district, said residents can fill out forms that allow temporary accessto the community. She said residents would be allowed to returnin shifts to gatherbelongings and ready their homes.