This week in Prince George history, Jan. 29 to Feb. 4:
Jan. 31, 1955: Flash flooding on Jan. 28, 1955 along the Nechako River was expected to cause thousands of dollars in damage, forced families to evacuate their North Nechako homes and shut down local mills, The Citizen reported.
It was the second flash flood in a week along the ice-clogged river.
"Friday flash flood brought the highest water level since 1949, when many mills were forced to shut down," The Citizen reported. "Provincial and municipal authorities are powerless to get a the cause of the floods until spring, when dredging can commence."
As of Jan. 31, six mills were shut down while crews cleaned up lumber and debris scattered by the surge of water. An official with Prince George Planing Mills Ltd., the hardest hit mill on River Road, said it will take thousands of dollars to get the mill operational again.
An estimated 200 mill workers were jobless because of the pair of floods.
"Martin S. Caine, owner of Caine Lumber Company on River (Road), told Citizen newsmen that the ice in the Nechako River suddenly started to move slowly downstream at 2:55 p.m. The ponderous mass of floe ice continued to move for about five minutes, then ground to a halt when its forward end reached the shallows some 1500 yards below the bridge," The Citizen reported. "Immediately the water started to rise and one onlooker said the level came up one foot in three minutes. The water kept rising until it was five feet above its previous level."
The P.G. Planing Mills official said the mill employees immediately evacuated, but the icy river water was swirling around up to knee height before they could get to higher ground.
"At the Norman M. Smith Lumber Company, a carrier driver suddenly found the waters four feet deep around his machine and he was forced to build a bridge with his load in order to reach dry ground," The Citizen reported. "A half-mile section of River (Road) was soon under three to four feet of water and stalled machinery stood in evacuated mill yards. A car left at one mill was submerged almost up to its windows.
"Hundreds of mice fled from nests under loading platforms. They swam to snowbanks at the edge of the rapidly-rising water. Employees worked to feverishly to life motors and machinery above the water level. Some were isolated and had to be evacuated by boats and hastily-improvised rafts."
Water also poured over the top of a dyke built the previous week to protect the city's water settling basin. A fleet of dump trucks went into action raising the level of the dyke, but it wasn't until the afternoon of Jan. 30 that they had resealed the dam around the basin.
Huge slabs of ice pressed against the side of the city's pumping station, and municipal officials worried the building would be ripped off its foundation.
Muddy water clogged the city's water chlorinator, prompting a boil water advisory for the second time in a week.
City officials were also worried about the city's power supply, because flood water was within four feet of the First Avenue power generator and the power station's basement had flooded.
Provincial public works officials were concerned for the safety of the Nechako bridge (known today as the Cameron Street Bridge), as the water level was only seven feet below the bridge's deck.
CN Rail deployed its yard engine to pull boxcars out of the flooded area.
"Less than three hours after the river poured over its banks, parts of First Avenue became submerged and all traffic had to be diverted through the west end of the city to approach the Nechako Bridge," The Citizen reported.
In the North Nechako neighbourhood, hundreds of people were marooned after the only access road was washed out and seven families had to be evacuated.
"Three boats were moved into the area so people could get out to the Hart Highway," The Citizen reported.
(ITALIC) You would think that a city that had three floods of its industrial core in a six-year span would have built some kind of dyke along the river. But apparently not. (END ITALIC)
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at: pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
