Water behind B.C. landslide is more likely to move over top than burst: minister

Current modelling shows water from a vast lake forming behind a landslide that has dammed the Chilcotin River is more likely to go over the top than burst through in a sudden release, British Columbia's minister of emergency management said Friday.

Current modelling shows water from a vast lake forming behind a landslide that has dammed the Chilcotin River is more likely to go over the top than burst through in a sudden release, British Columbia's minister of emergency management said Friday.

Bowinn Ma said the impacts downstream could still be significant depending on the distribution of the overtopping flow, and people along the Chilcotin and the connecting Fraser River may need to leave the area on short notice.

"We continue to plan for worst case scenarios," she said.

The minister said there's no timeline on when the water will start flowing, and "current modelling" shows that overtopping of the dam is more likely than a sudden break.

They estimate it will take 12 to 24 hours for water and debris from the dam to reach Hope, B.C., about 500 kilometres south of the massive landslide.

"There will be time to alert people at risk along the way if they must evacuate," she said.

Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation said Friday that there's not a lot that can be done other than "sit and wait" for the landslide to clear.