The City of Coquitlam says most residents who were displaced by a mudslide last week will be allowed to return home on Thursday afternoon, although long-term geotechnical assessments are still underway.

The mudslide on March 19 led to eight people being evacuated from four homes and two industrial properties in the 1900 block of Pipeline Road.

It came as more than 300 millimetres of rain hit Coquitlam during a multi-day storm, and displaced residents later questioned whether construction further up the hill exacerbated the slide.

But Jamie Boan, the general manager of engineering and public works with the City of Coquitlam, said initial indications from a geotechnical assessment were that the mudslide was due to saturated soils.

“I’m still waiting for the final report, but I’m led to believe that it was a natural occurrence far up in the area, and just, the heavy rainfall caused a slippage that created this issue,” he said.

“So longer term, we don’t know. They’re indicating this will be a preliminary review,” he added. “So in terms of that stability … there’ll have to be further investigation by geotechnical experts to determine what that risk level would be.”

Boan said that while there have been previous mudslides in the area, this one was the biggest and originated from a different section of the hillside than past slides.

He said residents of three of the four homes would be allowed to return, while city staff would assist the residents of the fourth home with retrieving belongings in the interim.

Lack of insurance coverage

Jeannie Dmytronetz, a displaced resident who had to live in a motel while she waited for the all-clear, said returning home felt like the first step in a long process of rebuilding.

She praised the city for offering financial support to help her family stay in the motel — but says she was told provincial disaster relief funds would only be granted in case of a province-wide disaster.

Dmytronetz’s in-laws’ home was hit harder than hers, and she said they would stay with her while it is fixed — even though that’s going to be costly.

“I phoned our insurance company and they advised that there is no landslide, or over-earth water damage, available for any insurance company. So we’re not covered at all,” she said.

Rob de Pruis, a spokesperson for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said that landslides are usually high-risk, unpredictable events that are almost always not covered by insurance.

“Insurance companies need to predict future claims to develop the premiums. And landslides, they’re absolutely highly unpredictable. So if you can’t predict the risk, you’re not able to price accordingly,” he said.

He advised homeowners to undertake a geotechnical survey before purchasing a new home, and talk to their local municipality to see if they’re allowed to build there.

“We see a lot of locations and communities that they’ve run out of land in their main area. So they’re starting to build up on slopes where, because of current construction practices, you may not have been able to do that decades ago,” he said.

“A lot of homes are built on slopes, and they do that for esthetics because you have great views, they’re up on a hill and it’s a nice location. But there are inherent risks with that.”

For people who have lived in the same home for decades, he said, seeking financial assistance through the municipality or the province might be the only option in the event they are not covered by insurance.