Nechako Ice Jam: 10 Years Later

A decade ago today, the City declared a state of emergency because of the growing ice jam on the Nechako river.  By Christmas, 17 homes along PG Pulp Mill Road had been evacuated, as had businesses along McAloney and Ongman Roads.

It was the first incident Brad Beckett had experienced as the newest addition to the City’s Emergency Social Services.  “There was so much to it. And then realizing, what do we do with people once they’re evacuated? What does that mean?” recalls Beckett. “For these people, it wasn’t the typical Emergency Social Services environment, where they go home in 72 hours. This was a long-term event. We were looking after long-term housing for these folks for well into the spring and early summer.”

One of those evacuees was Councillor Murry Krause, who had to be rescued from a second storey balcony.  “It turned into a very long, adventure because we were out fo the house for a while,” he recalls, evacuated from his home just before Christmas. “There was one flood later on, it was probably early January. It actually happened like a tsunami. It pushed doors out of the house and there was about three feet of water flowing through the house. It wasn’t standing water, it was actually flowing through the house.”

Before the ice jam has finshed it’s work, it was approaching 30 kilometres in length. The ice jam lasted many weeks and, ultimately, cost the City millions.