Nine homes evacuated; state of emergency declared

Apr 27, 2017 | 6:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — Twenty-two Kamloops residents remain out of their homes at this hour after sloughing of a nearby hillside past Rayleigh has made for slope instability. 

The city declared the local state of emergency before 6 p.m. on Thursday evening, identifying a significant change in the landscape since a landslide in the area on April 10. The city says the heavy precipitation the area’s received has softened the hillside. 

“We had brought in geotechnical experts to be on site and monitor the slope walking through the area,” said Emergency Operations Centre Information Officer Tammy Robertson, referring to the slide three weeks ago. “They were monitoring and noticed there’s been more movement in the last week that’s brought us to today.”

WATCH: Update as of 12pm Friday, April 28th

There will be monitoring devices installed this weekend by geotechnical engineers, and they will help the city determine if there is any further movement.

“Our plan to continue to monitor the area. We will be installing some monitoring equipment that will give us daily readings, or more frequently as required, so we can understand what’s happening with the slope,” said Robertson. “Based on that movement, we will hope to see that it will slow, and we’ll be able to return the residents back to their home.”

As for the 22 residents affected from the nine homes evacuated, some are staying at hotels and have two more nights covered by the province. Others have been with family and friends.

WATCH: File footage from Monday, April 10th (Raw video, no audio)