Tsilhqot'in First Nation Chief says 2004 slide saw Chilcotin River blocked for days | Canada News Media
Connect with us

News

Tsilhqot’in First Nation Chief says 2004 slide saw Chilcotin River blocked for days

Published

 on

 

WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. – There’s not a lot that can be done other than “sit and wait” for a landslide to clear that is blocking British Columbia’s Chilcotin River, Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation says.

Alphonse said Friday that a landslide that dammed the river two decades ago burst in about four days, but this latest slide is “a lot larger than it was last time.”

“This is not really anything new for us,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do.”

Alphonse said there’s not much use in worrying about what may happen, other than hoping people don’t get too close to the water should it rapidly rise after the debris clears.

He said a salmon run expected late next week has already likely been affected and “that run is now in jeopardy and that’s very concerning for us.”

“We should have a fishery going on right now,” he said. “We are dependent on salmon runs for healthy living. That’s the main source of food for our people.”

The slide dammed the river early Wednesday, creating a pile of debris 30 metres deep and more than 600 metres long. The river is a tributary of the Fraser River, where the salmon bound for the Chilcotin are making their way upstream.

A massive lake, described as several kilometres long, sits behind the dam of debris.

For Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake Indian Band, the uncertainty of how the landslide will give way is a key concern.

Sellars has been over the slide in a helicopter for two days in a row and said the water behind the dam doubled in size from Wednesday to Thursday and it continues to build.

“And it’s eventually going to get to this place where it starts overtopping the slide. And, you know, all the experts in all the calls and the feedback that we continue to hear is, is nobody really knows what is going to happen.”

Scenarios include the dam releasing all at once, or the water could trickle through, or the lake behind the dam will top the slide and allow the river flow to resume, he said.

“But there is this massive body of water that is building on the one side of that slide. And it’s scary,” he said.

“It’s hard to describe in words how massive this slide is, and how devastating it is.”

The B.C. government issued a statement late Thursday saying the landslide material is composed of sands, silts and clays, which are “susceptible to rapid erosion.”

It said provincial personnel are monitoring the site south of Williams Lake around the clock, with help from drones and helicopters.

“The focus is on learning as much as possible about when and how the water is most likely to be dispersed to the Chilcotin River,” it said.

The government statement said there is “no anticipated timeline” for when the water may overtop or burst through the landslide material, though regional officials have said a release could be imminent.

Margo Wagner, chair of the Cariboo Regional District, told a news briefing on Thursday that a release could be expected within one to two days.

Evacuation orders span 107 square kilometres along the Chilcotin River, and officials say the slide poses an “immediate danger to life and safety.”

Sellars said the river has “massive cultural significance” for all the First Nations in the area, and he also has concerns for the impacts downstream if the dam bursts.

“And really, it’s hundreds of communities that are impacted and located along the Fraser (River),” he said.

B.C. Minister of Emergency Management Bowinn Ma said on Thursday that if the dam breaks it’s possible that dozens of evacuation orders and alerts would be issued as a surge of water moves down the Chilcotin River and into the Fraser River, which empties into the Strait of Georgia in Metro Vancouver.

Sellars said his community is about 45 minutes away from the slide, so an evacuation of the community likely won’t be necessary.

“(There’s) a lot of history, former village sites, burial grounds, and we need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to document and protect those,” he said.

The Tsilhqot’in National Government issued a statement Thursday, declaring a local emergency and warned people to stay away from the river.

The statement said the slide happened upstream of Nagwentled, also known as Farwell Canyon.

The B.C. government’s geographical names data base says Nagwentled in Tsilhqot’in roughly translates to “landslides across the river.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Bologna prepares for Champions League debut with draw at Como while Juventus held

Published

 on

MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.

Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.

Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.

AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.

Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.

Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.

Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.

Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.

Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.

Unbeaten sides

Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.

Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.

On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.

Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.

The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.

Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

___

AP soccer:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Liverpool ‘not good enough’ says Arne Slot after shock loss against Nottingham Forest

Published

 on

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.

A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.

“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.

“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”

Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.

But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.

Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.

United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.

Unstoppable Haaland

Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.

The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.

Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.

“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.

Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.

He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.

He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.

Rashford snaps run

Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.

Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.

Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.

Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.

“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.

De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.

It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.

Villa comeback

After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.

Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.

Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.

Late drama

Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.

Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.

But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.

Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.

West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.

___

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

___

AP soccer:



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

Published

 on

CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

___

AP NBA:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version