B.C. evacuation order lifted two years after B.C. landslide killed four people

JOHNSONS LANDING, B.C. – Almost two years after a landslide tore down the slopes of Johnsons Landing, B.C., claiming the lives of four people, the last of the evacuated residents are allowed to return home.

But the Regional District of Central Kootenay is cautioning residents that risks and hazards remain and those problems will have to be weighed when residents are allowed to return on Thursday.

The largest landslide to hit the region in 12,000 years struck July 12, 2012, sending 320,000 cubic metres of rock and mud down an area known as Gar Creek, destroying four homes and damaging others in the southeast B.C. community.

The landslide claimed the lives of Valentine Webber, his 17- and 22-year-old daughters Rachel and Diana, as well as Petra Frehse of Germany.

Regional district chairman John Kettle says staff have worked with the provincial government to address all outstanding issues and officials waited for the end of the freshet, the release of snowmelt and rainwater, before lifting the order.

The regional district reports that 16 residents either lost their homes or remained under the evacuation order until is lifting.