From the mudslide in Washington

[Luddly Neddite]

Washington mudslide: Family dog rescued from rubble - wptv.com

DARRINGTON, Wash. – A Washington family suffered just about every emotion imaginable as they struggled to deal with the weekend's devastating mudslide but found some consolation after their family dog was found alive amidst the disaster.

The Kuntz family lost homes, a loved one who was Darrington's longtime librarian, and another relative was hospitalized on Monday.

The family came home to Darrington to find their muddy and mangled house 150 feet from its base.

"I'm still in shock that we could have been gone," said Quinton Kuntz.

The family was attending a baseball game at the time of the slide, but their dog and cat were inside the house. Their aunt, Linda McPherson, lived next door and was killed in the slide.

More and a video at the link.

 

[waltky]

Number of unaccounted for drops as more people accounted for...

Number of missing from mudslide drops to 30
29 Mar.`14 — The number of those believed missing following a deadly Washington state landslide has plummeted to 30 after many people were found safe, authorities said late Saturday.

Officials previously set the number of missing people at 90, but said they expected that figure to drop dramatically as they worked to find people and cross-referenced a list that included partial reports and duplicates. The confirmed death toll rose by one, to 18, Jason Biermann, program manager at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, said at a Saturday evening briefing. The search by heavy equipment, dogs and bare hands for victims from the slide was going "all the way to the dirt" as crews looked for anything to provide answers for family and friends a week after a small mountainside community was destroyed.

All work on the debris field halted briefly Saturday for a moment of silence to honor those lost. Gov. Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m., the time the huge slide struck on March 22, destroying a neighborhood in the community of Oso north of Seattle. "People all over stopped work — all searchers — in honor of that moment, so people we are searching for know we are serious," Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief Steve Mason said. An American flag had been run up a tree and then down to half-staff at the debris site, he said.

Dan Rankin, mayor of the nearby logging town of Darrington, said the community had been "changed forevermore." "It's going to take a long time to heal, and the likelihood is we will probably never be whole," he said. Among the dozens of missing are a man in his early 20s, Adam Farnes, and his mother, Julie. "He was a giant man with a giant laugh," Kellie Howe said of Farnes. Howe became friends with him when he moved to the area from Alaska. She said Adam Farnes was the kind of guy who would come into your house and help you do the dishes.

Adam Farnes also played the banjo, drums and bass guitar, she said, and had worked as a telephone lineman and a 911 dispatcher. "He loved his music loud," she said. Finding and identifying all the victims could stretch on for a very long time, and authorities have warned that not everyone may ultimately be accounted for after one of the deadliest landslides in U.S. history. Rescuers have given a cursory look at the entire debris field 55 miles northeast of Seattle, said Steve Harris, division supervisor for the eastern incident management team. They are now sifting through the rest of the fragments, looking for places where dogs should give extra attention. Only "a very small percentage" has received the more thorough examination, he said. Dogs working four-hour shifts have been the most useful tool, Harris said, but they're getting hypothermic in the rain and muck.

More http://news.yahoo.com/number-missing-mudslide-drops-30-012013370.html

 

[waltky]

More bodies found...

Death toll in Washington mudslide hits 39
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 — The death toll from the massive mudslide that hit the Washington town of Oso last month has risen to 39, officials said Wednesday.

The Snohomish County medical examiner's office said it was identifying the three bodies most recently discovered and notifying families. The sheriff's office said it has removed one name from the missing list, which previously stood at seven. Officials didn't say whether one of the most recently recovered bodies led to the change in the missing list.

One body was found Monday and two were found Tuesday in the southeast corner of the debris field where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has erected a berm in the past week, said Koshare Eagle, a spokeswoman for the incident management team. The 3,000-foot-long berm, made of 20,000 tons of rock, gravel and dirt, acts like a levee and allowed standing water to be pumped back into the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River so searchers could enter the area, the corps said.

Searching the debris with dogs and recovering bodies continues to be the main job after the March 22 landslide buried dozens of homes in the community about 55 miles northeast of Seattle. Meanwhile, engineers are using GPS to map the area as the state Transportation Department makes plans to clear a mile-long stretch of highway that was covered with mud and trees up to 25 feet deep.

The slide blocks the direct route between Interstate 5 and the nearby town of Darrington. The Transportation Department held meetings in Darrington and Oso to talk with residents about the highway. A third meeting was scheduled for Wednesday evening in Arlington. Transportation officials have said it might take one to three months to clear the highway, but it may be fall before repairs are made and the highway reopens.

Death toll in Washington mudslide hits 39 - seattlepi.com

 

[waltky]

And then off to the Philippines...

Obama to Visit Site of US Mudslide
April 21, 2014 ~ U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Tuesday with families of victims of a deadly mudslide in the northwestern state of Washington.

The White House says the president will survey the damage from last month's mudslide, which killed at least 41 people and destroyed dozens of homes.

Obama also is scheduled to meet with victims, first responders and recovery workers during his visit. The president signed an emergency declaration ordering U.S. government assistance to supplement state and local relief efforts in the aftermath of the mudslide and flooding.

A house is seen destroyed in the mud on Highway 530 next to mile marker 37 in Oso, Washington

A sudden landslide in late March cascaded without warning through the rural enclave of Oso, north of the city of Seattle. The mud buried a river valley neighborhood and covered a stretch of state highway.

From Washington state, Obama is due to travel to Asia, where he will visit visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Obama to Visit Site of US Mudslide

See also:

At mudslide scene, Obama mourns with survivors
Apr 22,`14 -- Swooping over a landscape of unspeakable sadness and death, President Barack Obama took an aerial tour Tuesday of the place where more than three dozen people perished in a mudslide last month. He pledged a nation's solidarity with those who are enduring "unimaginable pain and difficulty" in the aftermath of the destruction.

"We're going to be strong right alongside you," Obama promised the people whose lives were upended when a wall of mud and water swept away the hillside on March 22 and took with it at least 41 lives and dozens of homes. Obama first boarded a helicopter to survey the awful scene. Evidence of the mudslide's power was everywhere: trees ripped from the ground, a highway paved with mud and debris, a river's course altered. And in the midst of the awful tableau, an American flag flying at half-staff. Even as the president flew overhead, the search for bodies continued below. Two people were still listed as missing.

Back on the ground, the president gathered at a community chapel in the small town of Oso, about an hour northeast of Seattle, to mourn with families of the victims. He met separately with emergency responders before speaking in a small brick firehouse about all he had seen and heard on a clear, sunny afternoon. "The families that I met with showed incredible strength and grace through unimaginable pain and difficulty," Obama said. Then he offered them a promise. "The whole country's thinking about you, and we're going to make sure that we're there every step of the way as we go through the grieving, the mourning, the recovery," he said. Obama said few Americans had heard of the tightknit community of Oso before the tragedy but in the past month "we've all been inspired by the incredible way that the community has come together."

President Barack Obama speaks to first responders, recovery workers and community members at the Oso Fire Department in Oso, Wash., Tuesday, April 22, 2014, the site of the deadly mudslide that struck the community in March.

Firefighter coats hung on the firehouse walls as Obama spoke, with homemade signs above them reading: "We (Heart) Oso." "Thank you Oso." "Oso Proud." Brande Taylor, whose boyfriend volunteered to work on the mudslide debris field, was glad the president made the effort to visit this rural outpost. "It is a small community. It's little. It's not huge on the map. But there's still people here who need help, that need the support," said Taylor, who stood near the firehouse. "And they need to know the president is here to support and to help them rebuild their lives." Kellie Perkins, who lives in Oso, said Obama's visit would help families who have lost so much begin to heal. "They don't now have houses any more, they don't have anything they own, their friends or relatives are dead," she said. "I think they need this."

At the request of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Obama earlier this month declared that a major disaster had occurred in the state, making it and affected residents eligible for various forms of financial aid, including help covering the costs of temporary housing, home repairs and the loss of uninsured property. The Homeland Security Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers also are helping. The president repeatedly has stepped into the role of national consoler in times of mourning. Just two weeks ago, he met with families and comrades of those killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas. Three soldiers died and 16 others were wounded in the rampage by another soldier, who killed himself.

Obama also has mourned with the grieving after carnage in Tucson, Ariz., Aurora, Colo., Newtown, Conn., Boston, the Washington Navy Yard - and once before at Fort Hood. Tuesday's stop in Washington came as Obama headed for Tokyo, the first stop on a four-country visit to the Asia-Pacific region. The president is scheduled to spend the rest of this week and part of next week conferring with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

[waltky]

3 missing after mudslide in Colorado...

3 Missing After Massive US Mudslide
May 26, 2014 ~ Rescue teams are searching for three people missing after a large mudslide struck late Sunday in the western U.S. state of Colorado.

The mudslide is estimated to be three kilometers wide, 6.5 kilometers long and 76 meters deep in an unpopulated area near the town of Collbran, about 64 kilometers east of the city of Grand Junction.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department said rescuers raced to the scene, but slowed operations after nightfall.

Heavy rain fell on the area during the previous two days, and "likely contributed to the cause of the slide," according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The avalanche occurred about two months after a massive mudslide hit the Washington state community of Oso on March 22, killing 43 people.

3 Missing After Massive US Mudslide