Evaluation of Hwy 3A mudslide aftermath continues
By Castlegar Source
The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) continues to work alongside other agencies to assess the area affected by yesterday’s mud slide at Sentinel Mountain. The event lead to a Declaration of a Local State of Emergency in Area I and an evacuation order for a single property that was at risk.
“As of this morning, the evacuation order and the emergency declaration remain in effect as we work with our provincial partners and technical staff to evaluate the situation and determine if any there is any further risk to people or property,” said Andrew Bellerby, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Director.
The mud slide occurred yesterday morning on Highway 3A approximately four kilometres north of Castlegar. The RDCK activated its EOC to support all agencies involved, including the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Forests, Land, Natural Resource Operations. The highway was closed in both directions, but has since re-opened for single-lane alternating traffic. Updates on highway conditions can be found at www.DriveBC.ca, and updates on transit can be found at https://bctransit.com.
“I encourage everyone to register for the RDCK Emergency Notification System to receive critical location-specific alerts by text, voice call or email,” continued Bellerby. “We use the alert system to advise residents and visitors if there is an emergency or disaster that requires evacuation or sheltering in place. The system was not activated yesterday because the situation affected only one property.”
Updates about the current incident will be shared as the situation develops on the RDCK website at www.rdck.ca and on Facebook and Twitter.
To sign up for the alert system, go to www.rdck.ca and select “Emergency Alerts” from the home page, or go to the alert system sign-up page at https://rdckemergency.connectrocket.com.
For general information about emergency preparedness and evacuations, please visit the Emergency Preparedness page of the RDCK website or PreparedBC.