A recent study has revealed that almost half of the landslides, debris flows, and washouts during British Columbia’s devastating atmospheric river disaster in November 2021 originated in areas affected by logging or wildfires.
The extreme weather event led to fatal landslides, infrastructure destruction, and mass evacuations. Heavy rains triggered a deadly slide on Highway 99 near Pemberton, claiming five lives, while widespread flooding in the Fraser Valley displaced 18,000 residents.
Published in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, the study analyzed 1,360 geohazards across a 70,000-square-kilometer area. It found that 17% of the incidents stemmed from burned land, 15% were linked to logging cut blocks, and 14% occurred near resource roads, totaling 46% of all recorded events.
The research highlights ongoing risks associated with forest management and resource road maintenance, despite improved logging practices over the years. Nearly half of the resource-road failures were traced to unmapped, likely unmaintained roads.
B.C. has faced escalating wildfire seasons, with 2021 ranking as the third-worst at the time. That record has since been surpassed by the 2023 season, which burned over 28,000 square kilometers. Climate change continues to intensify both wildfires and atmospheric river events, raising concerns over future geohazards in the province.
Source: Swifteradio.com
