Mudslide searchers get better weather
ARLINGTON, WASH. — Floodwater’s are receding at the site of a massive mudslide that crushed a rural Washington state community, allowing crews to expand their search and yielding more human remains in areas that previously couldn’t be reached. The views presented Tuesday on a media tour were chilling: shredded homes and twisted cars.
More than 10 days after a large section of a rain-soaked hill crashed down on a neighbourhood in the small community of Oso, teams with cadaver dogs are still sifting through debris and soil to determine exactly how many people died in the March 22 mudslide.
The mudslide had dammed up the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, causing water to pool.
“A lot of logjam areas, that’s where we’re finding human remains,” search effort division supervisor Steve Harris said on Tuesday. The Dead: Officials have so far confirmed the deaths of 29 people, although only 22 have been officially identified in information released Wednesday morning by the Snohomish County medical examiner’s office. They range in age from four-month-old Sonoah Heustis to 71-year-old Lewis F. Vandenburg. A total of 20 people are missing. The Mudslide site: Where there was a highway, there’s now a bed of mud and debris as much as 24 metres deep in some spots. There are few signs that a community existed here, replaced by a field of debris.
“The mountain didn’t slide like an avalanche that starts at the top and slides down. It actually blew out at the bottom. And all of that energy, because of the weight on top on it, blew across the river and brought all that water and material in it,” said Lt. Richard Burke, a firefighter and incident spokesman.
The valley then channelled the slide like a bowl. “It kind of sloshed up the bank and came back down.” The search for human remains: Crews are being careful in their search for human remains. Harris said boats with sonar are among the pieces of equipment put to use.
The search is painstaking. In expanding their area, crews are using a grid system. But despite the progress, there are parts of the debris field that have not been examined because they are not yet stable.
“We’ve had excavator operators that have been out here every day,” said Burke. “Then people come in behind them with hand tools.” Financial costs: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says the mudslide caused about $10 million in damage to homes. He estimates further costs of $32.1 million for search and recovery efforts and to remove debris.