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Hundreds of residents east of Enderby remained stranded on Saturday after a landslide into the Shuswap River caused a torrent of water and debris to flood the area of Cooke Creek.
Mabel Lake Road and a bridge spanning the creek were washed out on Friday at about 6 a.m., isolating about 200 residents on the other side, according to Leigh Pearson of Vernon Search and Rescue.
He said Saturday that crews have searched the debris pile and everyone has been accounted for. Stranded residents may have to wait until Monday before the road reopens, but the North Okanagan Regional District were transporting food and water to them by helicopter.
Leigh said the washout was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and that it was miraculous no one was injured or trapped under the water, where hundreds of knocked-down trees and power poles covered the road.
鈥淚t was unreal. When we were called out we were told the creek had flooded its banks ... but when we got there is was just chaos,鈥� he said Saturday. 鈥淚t was unimaginable destruction, and there were hundreds of trees everywhere. A bridge was gone. We thought 鈥榳here do we start?鈥� 鈥�
He said no homes were destroyed, although a fish hatchery was flooded with debris and will have to be rebuilt. 鈥淭his is going to take a long to clean up,鈥� said Pearson.
B.C. Hydro said nearly 700 customer were still without power on Saturday. Spokesman Dag Sharman said Ministry of Transportation crews have opened part of the road just so B.C. Hydro crews can get in.
鈥淭hey are on site now but it鈥檚 raining pretty heavily,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e hope that power will be restored by midnight but that may depend on the weather.鈥�
Five poles were washed out and about 14 strands of wire, Sharman said, calling it a 鈥渂ig repair job.鈥�
David Sewell, a spokesman for the North Okanagan Regional District, said the washout likely occurred when debris, which was caught in the creek upstream, gave way under increasing pressure from the water, said Sewell.
He said the regional district is flying officials into the community by helicopter, and they鈥檒l be bringing along bottled water and satellite phones.
Sewell said the regional district is asking locals to conserve water and stay in their homes, and the Ministry of Transportation estimates the road could reopen on Monday morning.
About 40 kilometres to the north in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, seven properties remain under evacuation order after a landslide hit McIntyre Creek last month.
Flooding in the Okanagan was one of several incidents affecting routes in B.C. Highway 23 north of Revelstoke and Highway 31 in the Kootenays were closed early Friday because of mudslides were reopened by mid-afternoon.
