Around 4:30 pm on Sunday I was in the hot pool with my wife, my son & his girlfriend when a huge mudslide came down right beside the resort. Sounded like a freight train coming getting louder & louder. Matter of fact that is what I thought it was, a freight train. Then I saw the trees just outside the pool area where there is a walkway & RV parking start to violently shake & disappear all the while this deafeningly loud rumble & grinding noise was going on. I knew something bad was happening just 200 feet away. The lifeguards started yelling for everyone to get out of the pool NOW!!!! & people ran in panic. Was a surreal experience. Didn't have time to be scared until afterwards. Everyone just cleared out... I don't think anyone was hurt but My God!!! Thinking about it later in the car coming back to Calgary it was pretty mind blowing!!
Close call there, Al! :s I guess on a good note at least no one was injured at Fairmont according to media reports, and I bet the rapid evacuation put your newly repaired foot to a test which it obviously passed... TM
Apparently still 300 people remain trapped at that RV park http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybre ... 50700.html
Deuvl, a combinaton of a lot of rain & high spring runoff this year as the mountains had a record snowfall this past winter. So the ground is saturated which causes mudslides. It was pouring rain yesterday but as we were in the mineral springs pool we didn't care. From what I understand, a creek overflowed & sent a wall of water, rocks, mud & trees crashing down on the Fairmont Resort. Lake Windermere in Invermere, BC is extremely high. Basically the beach has disappeared as the water has swallowed up about 30 feet of shoreline.
Yeah, lucky there was soft grass beside the pool as I was able to hobble in my bare feet. We were eventually allowed to go back to change so I was able to get my cane, get into my clothes from my bathing suit & put on my shoes. Without my shoes & cane, they'd have had to carry me to my car as I never would have made it.
