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Crews are still waiting for the go ahead to clean up the majority of debris from a Monday night landslide near Summerland.
A large chunk of the mountainside just south of Summerland came down between 7-8 pm on Monday.
Debris ended up spread across Hwy 97 and piled several feet deep on the west side of the highway, closest to the slide.
Summerland councillor Erin Trainer has since shared aerial photos provided to her by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, which shows the true extent of the slide.
The photos show a defined part of the mountainside that gave out, not far away from the backyard of a home perched on top of the cliff.
They also reveal that the debris came across the highway with such force that it broke through the barriers on the Okanagan Lake side of the road.
It’s incredibly fortunate, and somewhat miraculous, that no vehicles were caught in the powerful slide.
Somehow, crews were able to reopen Hwy 97 to single-lane alternating traffic just hours after the slide happened.
The highway remains that way, however, as a geotechnical assessment is needed before the rest of the debris gets cleaned up and the route can fully reopen.
Crews were able to do a bit more clean up on Wednesday, but the full assessment needed to completely clear the road has not yet been completed.
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