The search for four people who may have been caught in Thursday's landslide in southeastern B.C. has resumed after being delayed due to wet weather.
Rain continued to fall heavily in B.C. Saturday morning, forcing rescue crews to wait for geotechnical engineers to decide if conditions were safe enough to proceed with the search.
Crews will focus on a home on the mountainside where a father, his two adult daughters and a German woman are believed to be located.
"All we need is some shovels to dig out my 17-year-old daughter, my 22-year-old daughter and my ex-husband," said Lynn Migdal, mother of the two women believed to be trapped inside.
"They were eating breakfast at the time," she said. "They are deep down and no one is digging them out right now."
Search and rescue crews had climbed into the top of the home Friday evening but did not find Diana Webber, 22; Rachel Webber, 17; their father, Valentine Webber or the third woman.
Officials say there is still hope the three could be alive.
Saturday's search, which includes about 40 search and rescue personnel, including employees from the City of Vancouver, will focus on the basement cellar of the home.
"They're searching by hand, they're using machines for listening for sounds, and they also have two dogs on the pile helping them search," said Les Sziklai with the Vancouver Fire Department.
John Madill, who lives above Kootenay Lake, believes a boulder saved his life when it tumbled toward his log home, warning him the mountain was coming down.
"Thank God that rock came down from up above," he said. "[I] turned back and went behind the house. The house stopped a lot of the big stuff."
Madill says his home took the brunt of the violent rush, destroying the building instantly.
"There's 100 feet of mud in our driveway," he said. "It's just obliterated."
Lila Taylor, 22, remembers a rush of wind, a rumbling sound, and then watching mature trees fall as a torrent of debris and mud roared down the Purcell Mountains, coming within 25 metres of her parents' acreage.
The family rushed to check on their neighbours.
"[We] went down to the neighbour's house and it was completely gone. Went down to my friends house and it's gone too," she said. "These are some of my best friends. I just hope there is a chance they are still alive."
Three homes in the small community of Johnsons Landing, located just north of Kaslo on the east side of Kootenay Lake, were hit by the landslide on Thursday.
The search was delayed for more than 24 hours after the landslide, until engineers were sure the pile of mud and rock was stable enough for crews to continue the search.
The crews are using heavy equipment to remove mud and logs. Searchers are also carrying avalanche beacons for their own safety.
The landslide is blocking the only road into Johnson's Landing, leaving the area accessible only by air or water.
RCMP Sgt. Darryl Little said there are people on the far side of the washed-out road. An officer is trying to move them to "a safe location," he said, and a BC Hydro truck will try to restore power.
Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson confirmed that his department received an email warning about strange activity in the area on the morning of the slide.
But the email, which was sent to a research hydrologist working in the area, was not opened until after the landslide occurred. Officials say the worker was out in the field and didn't open the email until about 11:30 a.m. PT, more than half an hour after the slide was reported to the ministry.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark has offered condolences to the victims' families, adding that everyone affected in the close-knit community has her government's support.