PEMBERTON, British Columbia, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- About 1,400 people evacuated after a landslide backed up a British Columbia stream were allowed to return home Saturday after the danger waned, police said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Shawn Lemay said the area near the massive landslide that blocked Meager Creek and partially obstructed the Lillooet River in southwestern British Columbia was still unstable, but the risk of flooding had diminished enough to allow residents back into their homes, CTV reported. However, the area's hot springs were still off-limits to campers and hikers, Lemay told the network.
The evacuations had been ordered late Friday amid fears the dam created by the 52 million cubic yard landslide believed to have been triggered by a melting glacier could give way.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Meager Creek had been fully blocked and the nearby Lillooet River was partially blocked by the landslide, which stretched about 2 kilometers (1.5 miles).
The creek had cut a new channel through the landslide by Saturday morning and water levels on the Lillooet appeared to be falling.
The landslide had stranded more than a dozen campers Friday, CTV said. Several had to be rescued by helicopter.
