shape
carat
color
clarity

massive mudslide in WA

TooPatient

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
10,295
I've been posting a bit in other threads, but thought I'd start one since this is ongoing.

The mudslide happened Saturday morning. So many people were at home when it hit. The numbers keep changing, but the current list has over 170 people missing. Some are duplicates but other people may not be included in that number as there were people driving on the highway and others doing work in the area.

As of Tuesday evening, there were 16 confirmed dead plus another 8 bodies located but not yet recovered (so not included in the number of dead).

National Guard and FEMA are here helping. The fire department and local rescue organizations have been going non-stop since it happened. People within the community are doing what they can. Animal groups are helping care for recovered animals. Kids are raising money for missing classmates and their families. People are providing lots of food and others are preparing it so families and rescue teams have something to eat. I've even read offers of homes for families to stay in.

The hill is still considered unstable and more mud may come down. The slide on Saturday also dammed the river so there is a danger of flash flood with even more homes threatened by that.


Please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts.
 
I can't imagine a more scary way to die. And the devastation for the community ..... :blackeye:
 
Most of us feel pretty safe in our homes and cars... the thought of a disaster like this hitting without warning, and affecting so many people at once, is hard to grasp.
 
Some good news -- a bunch of people on the missing list have been accounted for.

Now down to 90 missing plus 35 not located. (how that isn't "missing" I don't know :confused: )


So sudden. We have lots of hills around here and I've wondered periodically but sort of figured that they didn't build houses unless the hills around were stable. This is the sort of thing I had never expected to hear about.
 
Devastating. :blackeye: Keeping everyone in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Horrible and tragic news indeed. My thoughts are with those who are affected by the mudslide.
 
DH's co-worker lost his uncle in the slide. Still among the missing.

Looks like they've recovered some more bodies but won't be updating numbers until the medical examiner is through.

There are so many people volunteering and providing food that the last update I saw requested no more food be brought for right now. One of the reporters at a local station (king5) is working with the community to try to get them what they need. They're currently in need of gas cards so he's got a place set up to get them those.

Right now, I want to be there helping but know it is better to stay out of the way as they have more than enough right this minute. I'm watching to people coordinating with the community so I can give the help that is needed when it is needed (including gas cards). There will be more to do for a long time to come. The clean up and re-building will be a long road.
 
DH's coworker got confirmation that his uncle's body has been identified.

Rescuers are still working in hopes that there may be survivors but it is very unlikely. The slide happened 6 full days ago.

So many people lost...

This is only a partial list, but it is the best I've seen. Pictures and information about some of the mudslide victims.
People dead or missing
 
TooPatient|1395943749|3642404 said:
DH's co-worker lost his uncle in the slide. Still among the missing.

I'm sorry for your loss!
 
MC|1396027175|3642953 said:
TooPatient|1395943749|3642404 said:
DH's co-worker lost his uncle in the slide. Still among the missing.

I'm sorry for your loss!

We never met the guy's uncle, but the work group has been sending messages for the family since we learned he was missing. After his body was identified, the co-worker let us all know that he's going to take the messages with him for his aunt to have.
 
They've made progress consolidating lists and getting rid of duplicates. Looks like there is currently 30 on the list of missing.
Number of dead now up to 18.
 
Nine years ago today, a community was changed forever. The people here came together and kept the search going until all 43 victims had been recovered. Most of those searching were volunteers, many with friends and family missing. Those needing to get to work west of this had to go around. It added hours each way to their commutes until a logging road was opened. As the rest of the world moved on, the people here were still searching for loved ones and trying to get the basics brought in.

Nine years later, you can still see where the earth fell away. This is still a small community. Those 43 victims and 11 survivors will forever be remembered.

The pictures don't capture the size well. They make it look much smaller than it really is. As you are standing there, it isn't until you look up at the remaining hill across the field and behind you across the highway that you really feel how big it was.


PXL_20230301_220013788.jpgPXL_20230301_220122693.jpg
 
Horrific and I cannot imagine the scope of it all.

What’s the current local viewpoint of the cause?
Mother Nature freak accident vs man made?
Was the area really populated by those who openly opposed the government regulating where it’s not safe to develop housing, or continue to work the land?

None of this negates the sad loss of life - I’m just curious and know not everything written in articles is factual.
 
@TooPatient It's incredible that it's been 9 years already. It feels like it happened only right before the pandemic. I hope time has brought healing to the families of those lost.
 
Horrific and I cannot imagine the scope of it all.

What’s the current local viewpoint of the cause?
Mother Nature freak accident vs man made?
Was the area really populated by those who openly opposed the government regulating where it’s not safe to develop housing, or continue to work the land?

None of this negates the sad loss of life - I’m just curious and know not everything written in articles is factual.

The cause is... A bit unspoken and a bit disagreed. It may have been talked about earlier on but it really isn't now. It sounds like there my have been heavy logging on the other side of the mountain with a particularly steep and thin top. I don't know how much that impacted as opposed to just natural due to the very heavy rains and snow melt of that time of year. The soils and trees can act differently depending on how dry it had been over summer, how sudden the rain fell, and so much more. Best guess from what I can tell is that it was a bunch of things lined up to make it happen. What I am also not clear on is whether the measured movements were known before or after the houses were put in. I think some also has to do with signs and warnings with many of the roads that rocks may fall. Well, yeah, but not all that often and usually not too huge. It also isn't terribly uncommon to have mudslides out in the mountain areas. (Heck, two pretty major cities just an hour south of this have had a number of slides.) The ones out near this that happen fairly often might cover a road in 3" or even a foot of crud. Nothing that would even come close to this.

I live much closer to this slide than I did nine years ago. It is actually quite close to me now. I looked and used all of the research links I could to try to determine how big of a risk the house we were looking at might have. It is not nearly as clear as you would hope. I went so far as to message one of the people on the research of the area. The house (which we did buy) is in the run off area for three separate mountains and hills. In theory, it could happen to us. The lady basically said that we'd have to contact some other experts and have a study done and measure movement over time to really know what risks there may be. Looking at the information, it appears as if the risk is pretty similar over much of this half of the state including on densely developed areas.

Learning more about what happened and what could have made a prediction more specific and believable (remember we have all grown up in this area being told that "the big one" is overdue and will happen -- great, a 9.0+ earthquake sometime between today and 500 years). There needs to be a better way to distinguish between might possibly happen and might be big but probably tiny and serious risk of major problem. (I can point out 4 or 6 massively developed hills that scare the poop out of me. How they haven't slid bad yet is still something I don't understand. Several have bad enough issues roads had to be closed as the ground slid out from under them...)

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. I guess all that to say that it seems to have been a number of factors and who knew what and when is still a bit unclear. Also unclear whether there was enough information to distinguish between the slight possibility and a certain disaster.

I have been very hesitant to ask about anything. Many people lost a loved one. All those who didn't, know someone who did. The guy who took the new carpet we pulled out of the house was part of the volunteers and actually pulled the body of his sister out. The woman who donated a set of shelves when I did lost her daughter that day. There are bits here and there. As I hear more, I am even more hesitant to bring it up. The people who volunteered kept the recovery going after the official people would have stopped. They wanted everyone accounted for. While they did find everyone, most were only parts. The volunteers, I am sure, had PTSD as they were digging through looking for bits of bodies. From what I have been told, many couldn't keep it up long. The road is back. You can see on the other side of the road where it was also impacted. The family, friends, and so many who searched have to drive through that every time they need anything outside of the small town.

ETA: I just remembered a jaw dropping moment I had the other day. Was driving through a different area heading into the mountains (south of here towards a different mountain pass). There is a sign warning you are entering a slide area (no shock, we have a fair number of those around the state). Directly across from this steep hill with enough indicators to warrant a sign, is a housing development going in. Seriously!?!? I don't know what they are thinking or who approved it. I hope they did enough studies to confirm it is safe! Wouldn't catch me living at the base of that hill though :eek-2:
 
Last edited:
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Top