A group of voters in the small B.C. community of Sunshine Valley are pleading with candidates in an upcoming byelection for help to rebuild after a mudslide destroyed their homes.
A landslide ruinedd several homes in the community and prompted a local state of emergency in May 2011. The avalanche of rocks, mud and trees trapped Liberty Mellow inside her house.
"Suddenly, totally dark all over me. I thought, I'm dead. I called the Lord," Mellow recalled to CTV News.
She and her partner received some emergency assistance in the wake of the slide, but they and five other affected families say it wasn't enough.
"I'm not giving losing faith with the government whatsoever, but I hope somebody can hear our plea because it's been a year already," Mellow said.
Dennis Adamson of the Fraser Valley Regional District has flown over the slide site, and is convinced another one is imminent and more homes could be destroyed.
"I'm appalled. The government should have done something. If this was in Victoria, if this was in North Van, this would have been immediately acted upon," he said.
Residents took their concerns to all-candidates meeting ahead of Thursday's byelection in Chilliwack-Hope. All three major party candidates said later that they were sympathetic to the plight of those impacted.
"There's real people with real problems and that's why they come to their MLA," Conservative candidate John Martin said.
NDP candidate Gwen O'Mahony said that health and safety issues should be a top priority for the province.
"I'm aware that there is a couple living in a cabin metres away from the slide area and that is very concerning to me," she said.
And Liberal candidate Laurie Throness said he hopes to help those affected by the slide as much as he can if elected.
"I did sense the frustration and anger that these constituents are going though and I empathize with that," he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
