[ad_1]
OLD FORT, BC – A member of a very united community along the Peace River that was evacuated when a slow landslide began to slowly descend over the hill says that the feelings are shared about the information that almost everyone can finally go home.
Gord Pardy says some people are "following the flow" and are happy to return home, while others are ready to leave the hamlet of Old Fort, British Columbia.
"Some people are scared now, they already have their homes for sale," said Pardy.
"We, well, we could not wait to get out of this hotel," he said, evoking the tiny accommodations he shared with his wife, daughter and their pets – two dogs and a bird – for four weeks.
The entire community of Old Fort was evacuated on October 7, a week after the steep hill began to collapse, leaving the only road in town blocked and destroying power lines as it headed for properties located along the shores of the Peace River below Fort St-Jean.
Landslide experts have warned that the landslide could either stop, take a catastrophic turn or slowly move the community. Residents were evacuated while provincial scientists and Westrek Geotechnical Services monitored the slide.
Evacuation orders for some properties were lifted at the end of last month and the Peace River Regional District said Sunday that there was only one left. Residents of three other homes are asked to be ready to leave at any time.
Pardy said that the only remaining evacuation order concerns a property that was destroyed by the toboggan.
We will ask the question, and if something resumed the road? What will be the plan? Because the plan can no longer be a mbadive evacuation.
"It's the poor family who lost their home," said Pardy.
The provincial Ministry of Transportation said that a semi-permanent road had been built on the existing slide.
An automated monitoring system provides continuous updates on movements in the region and an operating protocol is in place to respond to any problem, the ministry said.
Transport Minister Claire Trevena thanked members of the community for their patience.
"We know that people who had to be evacuated had a stressful time and I'm glad to hear that the road is in place and people can go home now that it is safe," Trevena said. said in a statement.
Pardy said the experience had been difficult for community members, many of whom believed that the landslide threat was overestimated and did not justify their expulsion from their homes.
"Tomorrow, we will begin to ask ourselves the question" why? ". We will ask ourselves the following question: if something resumed the road? What will be the plan? Because the plan can no longer be a mbadive evacuation. "
[ad_2]
Source link
