Monitoring Continues At Tappen Mudslide Site

The evacuation order remains in effect for four homes on Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road in Tappen.

Two homes were damaged in a mudslide Friday night.

Ryan Nitchie, Emergency Operations Centres Director for the Shuswap Emergency Program
says the slope is still being investigated.

“They’ll be doing that as well today, doing some monitoring and determining if there’s any more further slippage, so they’ll be monitoring ground water as well as the slope for the week.”

Nitchie says the slide was caused by water

“Ground water seepage has created an unstable layer between the bedrock and the organics that caused the slippage.”

The area has seen slides before

” They have happened in the past, most recently at McIntyre Creek, so there is a history of slope instability along that whole road corridor.”

The road is open to single lane alternating traffic during the day, but closed at night as a safety precaution.

The families affected are being taken care of by Emergency Services and the Red Cross.

Photo courtesy of  Global Okanagan