CUMBERLAND

 

Event description

 

On July 19, 1983, the moraine that impounded a proglacial lake in front of Cumberland Glacier was breached and in less than five hours, almost the entire lake had emptied into the valley below. The overtopping of the moraine is believed to have been caused by wave action initiated by calving of the ice front.The lake was lowered by 38.4 m with a loss of 6.5 Mio m³ of water. A large fan of coarse sediment was deposited immediately downstream from the moraine. Two WSC-gauging stations closest to the Nostetuko River were damaged. The flood lasted about 5 hours. The flow in Tragedy Canyon increased from 330 to 900 m³/s within an hour.

 

Damage

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Two WSC-gauging stations closest to the Nostetuko River were damaged.

 

Data source

 

Blown, I., Church, M. (1985): Catastrophic lake drainage within the Homathko River basin, British Columbia. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 22 (4), 551-563.

 

Remarks