Aerial video of B.C. landslide is ‘overwhelming’, ’emotional,’ says First Nation’s chief

A B.C. First Nation’s main sewage an aerial position of nan Chilcotin River landslide connected Thursday and said it is an overwhelming sight.

Chief Willie Sellars of nan Williams Lake First Nation told Global News that it is only a matter of clip earlier activity starts happening connected nan slide.

“The weight, nan sheer magnitude of it is really, you know, it’s breathtaking,” he said.

“And I’ve said it before, it’s affectional almost seeing it, conscionable nan effect that it’s having connected nan intelligence wellness and wellness of Indigenous peoples successful nan region, but besides non-Indigenous group arsenic well. I mean, it’s something.”

On Wednesday, a landslide blocked nan Chilcotin River, which feeds into nan Fraser River. The landslide is astir 22 kilometres upstream from nan Farwell Canyon Bridge and is estimated to beryllium astir 600 to 800 metres successful length, 300 to 600 metres successful width and astir 30 metres successful depth.

The landslide has dammed nan Chilcotin River and h2o is pooling down nan debris. It is estimated that nan h2o has backed up down nan reservoir astir 8 kilometres up nan river. The worldly blocking nan stream is composed of sands, silts and clays, which are susceptible to accelerated erosion, according to nan provincial government.

Sellars said erstwhile earthy disasters has prepared nan federation for nan landslide, arsenic champion arsenic they tin hole anyway.

“The contiguous consequence is people’s wellness and wellness, nan intelligence wellness and wellness of those people,” he said.

“And moving from location we started looking astatine nan effect connected nan fish, nan effect connected our taste sites of… value on nan river, down into nan Fraser.”

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Sellars described nan position of landslide arsenic overwhelming.

“You tin only dream that it starts toppling complete and it (water) finds its measurement and it trickles done slowly,” he said.

“Because if nan full point does release, location is going to beryllium a batch of harm and a batch of activity and a batch of, you know, impacted group and beings and territories downriver, not conscionable successful nan Chilcotin, each nan measurement down nan Fraser into nan ocean.”

Sellars said nan business makes him affectional arsenic nan onshore and nan creatures are truthful adjacent to nan hearts, minds and tone of Indigenous group successful nan region and crossed B.C.