Landslide levels 5 homes in B.C. Interior

A landslide in the southern B.C. Interior on Sunday afternoon destroyed five homes in a wall of mud and debris, but officialshave confirmedno one was hurt.

The slide happened at about 2:45 p.m. PT near Testalinden Creek, just south of Oliver, about 250 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Allan Patton, regional director with the District of Okanagan-Similkameen, said searchers have accounted for all the residents who were believed to be living in the homes in the slide's path, as well as the migrant workers employed in the area.

"Somebody might be walking a dog or something that we don't know about, but as far as the residents in the area are [concerned], there's no issues there nobody's been hurt," Patton told The Canadian Press.

Patton said the homes that were hit were destroyed: "Walls down, unsalvageable."

Earlier in the day, Oliver Mayor Pat Hampson said it appeared there "may have been a blockage up in the mountains of one of the streams that comes down to the Okanagan River and it looks as if that broke free and came running down the creek."

Police say the slide hit Highway 97, the main highway through the Okanagan,at Road 14, leaving a wall of mud about 3.5 metreshigh over the stretch of highway. Highway 97has been closed indefinitely. Motorists are being asked to detour to Highway 3A through Keremeos until further notice.

'Wall of mud'

"We had seen this huge flood coming from the mountainside and we don't know what happened there, but some of the houses have been totally demolished,"resident Roshan Sharma said. "They have orchards there and they have also been demolished, so it's huge damage there."

James Cambridge, 46, said a wall of mud suddenly came flying down the hill toward his home.

"Something let go up in the hills and this wall of mud came roaring down and took out our shop and buried a couple of cars on our property," he told The Canadian Press in an interview. "The roar was deafening. When we left, there were still trees going over [Highway] 97."

Patton saidsound of the slidemay have given residents just enough of a warning to get out.

"I've heard that there was a warning, but it was only a five-minute warning and it was basically just friends phoning friends," he said."People who live in the area saw it coming and then started phoning their friends and neighbours."

He said between 25 and 30 homes neighbouring the slide area have been put on evacuation alert.

RCMP said a mountain slope on the western side of the valley gave out, destroying several homes and structures before burying the highway in up to four metres of mud and spilling into the creek.

Environment Ministry assessing situation

RCMP said Environment Ministry officials were assessing the situation Sunday night.

Patton said now that district officials have confirmed the safety of area residents, the next phase can begin.

"Now we've moved from making sure people are OK to getting things back in working order and cleaning up messes," he said. "A lot of it has to do with the orchards and vineyards and farms that have been affected. What happens there? They're just basically toast for this year, I think."

But not all orchard owners were devastated Sunday's events.

Patton said he spoke with one man whose home was still standing, though the rest of his property was covered in mud.

"He's feeling pretty happy. His house is intact and his family's healthy, so that's his main concern," he said.

While too early to know what exactly triggered the slide, Patton said the area has been hit by heavy rain of late.

"We had more rain than we're used to," he said. "It's obviously accumulated and [Testalinden] Creek has deep canyons, and potentially there was some debris that backed up and created a dam. But that's really just speculation at this point."

"It's pretty hard to describe something like that," he said.

An emergency operations centre for evacuated residents was set up in Oliver.

Patton said 10 people had registered at the centre by late Sunday. He said whatever help area residents need, they'll get: "We've got a great community."

Landslides are not uncommon in mountainous B.C., but most often come down from remote slopes or, at worst, across highways.

Five years ago, heavy rains triggered a mudslide in North Vancouver, B.C., that killed one woman in her home. Her husband was pulled out of the mud and debris by neighbours and survived.