Residents ‘unaccounted for’ after HWY 99 mudslide, Mounties say

Crews are searching for a home’s occupants who police say remain “unaccounted for” after Saturday’s mudslide on Highway 99.

According to the Squamish RCMP, one home is believed to have been impacted by the slide that took place around 10:30 a.m. near Brunswick Beach in Lions Bay.

“Occupants of the home remain unaccounted for at the time of this release,” Corp. James Grandy said around 9 a.m. Sunday.

“Emergency crews, RCMP, along with Heavy Duty Search and Rescue crews from Canadian Task Force 1, are on site.”

The highway has fully reopened, but crews are expected to remain in the area for some time.

“Highway maintenance contractors are on scene completing a technical assessment along with Ministry of Transportation,” Grandy said.

Nearby residents Reese Rigelhof and Spencer Moreau tell The Leader Spirit they are the neighbours of the unaccounted-for occupants.

“We haven’t lived here for a long time, but we do know them,” Moreau said.

They say they heard the mudslide when it happened and saw the immediate aftermath.

“It was incredibly loud, like deep rumbling,” Moreau said. “We could hear it coming from behind us. And then eventually, once we realized there was something going on, we ran to the window. We could see it like, come in front of us. It was just went right by the neighbour’s house. It was pretty intense.”

He says the slide missed their own home by 70-100 feet.

“We had a house in between us and the slide, but the neighbors were like, they had like… trees hitting their house, mud splatter,” he said.

“The one in between us and the highway, unfortunately, was completely wiped out.”

“We’re still waiting to hear anything back about it,” Rigelhof said.

Meanwhile, they aren’t sure when they can go back to their home, but they and their cat Toby remain safe while they wait.

Highway 99, also known as the Sea to Sky Highway, closed in both directions between Lions Bay Avenue and Brunswick Beach Road Saturday after the slide toppled trees and debris across the roadway. The highway reopened Sunday morning.

With files from Angela Bower.