More than a thousand British Columbians evacuated after a massive rock slide in the Lillooet River Valley were allowed to return to their homes Saturday.
Police and firefighters had gone door-to-door throughout the region late Friday night to rouse about 1,500 residents from their homes near Pemberton, more than 250 kilometres north of Vancouver.
The order affected residents along the Lillooet River Valley floodplain in the Pemberton Meadows, upstream of Miller Creek, and the Lillooet River Valley floodplain from the Lillooet River Bridge on Highway 99 downstream to Lillooet Lake.
According to a news release issued by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the evacuation order was issued "due to (the) imminent threat of a debris dam breach associated with the Mount Meager landslide."
The two-kilometre-long landslide, which hit before dawn on Friday, created a dam in Meager Creek.
Debris from the landslide also partially blocked the Lillooet River.
Rich Coleman, B.C.'s housing and social development minister, said officials had to err on the side of caution and issue the evacuation order over fears the water would breach the dam and flood the area.
But by Saturday morning, Meager Creek had naturally cut a new channel through the dam, easing the threat of flooding.
RCMP Sgt. Shawn Lemay said the area is still unstable, but the flood risk has diminished enough that residents can go home. However, campers and hikers will not be allowed to visit the Meager Creek hotsprings, Lemay said.
Several campers had to be rescued by helicopter after they were trapped by rock and snow from the landslide early Friday.
The slide swallowed an access road that left 13 campers marooned in the wilderness.
Eight were airlifted to Pemberton, the RCMP said, while five chose to stay behind. There were no injuries.
John Clague, a geology professor at Simon Fraser University, said hot weather may have melted snow and ice on a glacier above the creek, causing the earth to give way.
The slide involved 40 million cubic metres of debris, making it one of the three largest in Canadian history.
A landslide struck the same area 12 years ago, creating an 800-metre-wide lake.
