(Williams Lake) A man camping along the Chilcotin River in central British Columbia woke up to the sound of a landslide and ran as the ground shifted beneath his feet.
Debra Bortolussi of Central Cariboo Search and Rescue says the man told them he had set up camp with his dog while rafting down the river when he heard noises around midnight, prompting him to run away.
Mme Bortolussi said it “seems like a miracle” that the man was not caught in the landslide as he ran on moving debris, which then swept away his camp and rafting equipment.
She added that the man’s dog was missing, but rescuers were hopeful they could find him because the camper had yelled at him to follow him during the escape.
Mme Bortolussi said the man was injured in the lower body during his escape and is now in stable condition after a rescue operation involving a helicopter.
“Her tent, her raft, everything was swept away by the landslide,” she testified in an interview Wednesday.
The man spent the night at the top of the landslide area, where a local resident spotted him before contacting emergency crews around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The landslide blocked the river and prompted evacuation orders for a 107-kilometre stretch of the Cariboo Regional District due to “immediate danger to life and safety” from subsequent flooding.
The district also declared a local state of emergency, asking residents to gather their families and take anyone else who might need help getting out.
The regional district says residents in areas ordered to evacuate should use available routes north to Highway 20 and east to Williams Lake.
The nearby Tsilhqot’in Nation said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that it has activated its emergency operations centre to help those in need.