USA TODAY International Edition
90 remain missing in mudslide
OSO Ninety people remain missing or unaccounted for in the massive mudslide here, Snohomish County Emergency Management Director John Pennington said Wednesday night.
“I do believe that it might drop a little bit more from that. We’re getting a clear picture of the number of individuals we need to focus on out there,” he said.
So far, 24 bodies have been found in the muck. Of those still missing, “I think we have to be logical here,” Pennington said. “I’d rather not speculate, but there are 90 people on this list. By now, someone has reached out to them and said: ‘ Hey, that’s your home town. They’re looking for you.’ ”
The disaster scene here has been compared to the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
In a panoramic sense, that’s true. All about are mounds of gray sediment, as high as 15 feet, shaped like the ridges that the 1980 eruption left in the Toutle River valley.
But that was a largely unpopulated area. This community along the Stillaguamish River was a cozy enclave of a few dozen homes before a mile- square chunk of land overwhelmed it Saturday morning.
Oso’s connection to the rest of Washington, Highway 530, was swamped by the mudslide. The westernmost 200 yards of the highway have been cleared. Still, the normal 20- minute drive through here between Arlington and Darrington is now a two- hour slog on a back- country access road.
On the hillside above Highway 530, a half- inch black cable has been strung through the brambles to restore phone and Internet service to Darrington. A creek below is flowing brown.
The sounds of helicopters and planes boom through the valley as crews are ferried between the Arlington and Darrington sides of the mudslide.
Rescue teams haven’t given up the hope of finding anyone alive, Pennington said. But no survivors have been found since rescues on Saturday.
“What has been the most help has been the dogs in finding people. And then our bare hands and shovels,” he said.
Wreckage is covered in gray muck. Backhoes scoop only partial loads and sometimes spread them on the ground, where several people look through carefully to make sure no victim or clue is overlooked.
The mood is somber. Fire Chief Travis Hots watches silently as a chaplain drapes a comforting arm around a searcher. The feverish work at the site is mirrored by volunteers in nearby towns busy feeding, clothing and housing those displaced.
Now, “the world knows where Oso is,” county Executive John Lovick said Wednesday. “They also now know that we are more than a small community. We are a large family.”