this is an excellent graphic put up by the UK Daily Mail of all places, you can see the river is flooding up steam properties, forming a new lake. This is damaging homes that were not even harmed directly by the landslide. The inset is a good picture showing where all of the homes that were buried are located. You can see the water is cutting a new channel through the debris, lowering fears of it letting loose and taking out the valley down stream, they had evacuated all the homes down stream for several days, and they closed the lower roads that lead up to our home as a precaution (I drove around the barricades to get home several days, our home is high and dry on solid ground so that was the safest place to be).
another close up of the home upstream of the land slide, soon to be part of a new lake.
Rescue dog search crews working their way though the debris
Thoughts and prayers with you out there. Sometimes living in such natural beauty puts us humans in harms way. I dont think taking radical risks is wise but people live near volcanos in Hawaii and amazing coastal communities where we know hurricanes will hit. But damn, it sounds like there was quite a bit of bad politics going on and that some of the people living there had no idea of the risks. I visited Seattle with my wife last year when she was at a conference. I drove the rented mustang convertible all over the place. I think I drove throught this area. Is it on the way towards Olympia Natl Forest from Seattle? Absolutely stunning scenic driving there. Next visit I want to head to the Mt St Helens area
From the South but in Fargo because wife found her dream job
86 Tercel SR5 4WD (couldnt wait for that perfect rust free 22RE 4runner)
03 Mercury Marauder sold 4/5. In mourning
03 Altima 2.5SL (wifes cruiser)
I have lived in this valley for well over 20 years now, and have traveled over much of the USA and much of Canada too by car. I have to say that this is one of the most spectacular mountain vistas on the continent, if not the world. There are actually no good shots of the really good view of the mountains to the east, they are breathtaking, as good as anywhere.
That is what keeps people here. The dangers are not as bad this, consider elswhere has tornados, killer earthquakes, hurricans, and other dangers, but none have this senery.
It was partly bad luck, partly intentional ignorance (it can not happen to me), and a landslide that was way way way larger than any expert would have guessed. the mountain that failed is only about 600 ft tall, but flattened houses and killed people well over half a mile away from the base. State law considers the zone within half the height as the danger zone, so nothing would require the building department to require a geotechincal investigation if you were building more than 300 ft away from the base of the hill (this is common in most states as outline in the International Building Code). There was no recent construction anywhere near this close, only a few permits were approved in the last decade for sites that were over 2000 ft away. No one acted irresponsibly, it was just something no one would have guessed. most landslide deposit the debris in a heap at the toe of the slope. There were six or seven studies of this slope going back to the sixties, all were concerned with the safety of the fish habitat. Not one mentioned hazard to the homes 2000 feet away. The lots were created in the fifties and most of the homes were built that far back when there was no requirement to do geotechnical studies. In fact, more homes have been damaged by flooding from high water than from landslides in the last 50 years at this spot.
Many "experts" have been second guessing the wisdom of "allowing" homes to be built here. they are fools, unless there was a known immanent risk to the site, building departments are reluctant to deny permits to legal existing lots where people have been paying tax on them for over half a century. there were many smaller slides on this hillside over last 100 years and it never damaged any homes. Homes were flattened all the way over on the other side of the valley, on the far side of the highway that were 150 ft higher than the river elevation. Anyone standing that far away would have assumed it would have been a safe distance, even the experts. but they all would have been wrong this time.
There will be a detailed investigation and a report published. It will be interesting to see it. Before than we should all resist the urge to point fingers. sometimes "shit happens".
Well said. Bad things sometimes happen to good people. Ive lived in Hawaii, Florida, California and Texas before moving up to Americas Siberian winter wonderland (tongue firmly in cheek). Thats what I was thinking in my earlier post about volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornados. Mother nature is amazing in her beauty but she can also be a fierce mofo.
From the South but in Fargo because wife found her dream job
86 Tercel SR5 4WD (couldnt wait for that perfect rust free 22RE 4runner)
03 Mercury Marauder sold 4/5. In mourning
03 Altima 2.5SL (wifes cruiser)
It has been one week since the slide, the only survivors so far are ones they recused from the mud the first day. It is looking less likely there will be any more survivors found in the debris and rubble, officially there are 26 confirmed dead, and 90 are still missing. Many are children. Every day we hear helicopters pass over our home several times a day, we know that sound is likely another victim they have dug out and are delivering to the coroner's office. There were 3 trips this morning before noon.
An interesting story to tell about one victim they found in her car. This single mother of 3 had left Darrington at 10:30 am to an appoint at in Arlington on the other side of the slide zone. the slide occurred at about 10:40 right when she would have been driving through the slide area and most assumed she ended up getting swept off the road and buried since she never made it to her 11 am appointment last Saturday. There were many friends and relatives that were anxious and complaining that it should not be too hard to find the car since it was on the road and she could still be alive inside her car under the mud. They found her Subaru a few days ago, in fact her brother was a local firefighter who was one of the first responders. The car was completely flattened, everyone knew there was little chance anyone would be alive inside. the other rescuers allowed her brother, as his request, to cut off the top of the car to retrieve his sister's body. In an interview later he said it was a relief in a way to know she was killed instantly, rather than suffocating to death hours or days later. There were no photos shared of the recovery, though I am sure some were taken.
However hearing this man describe the condition of his sister's car when they found it made me think about the possibility of surviving inside a car during such a disaster. I am sure most of you think about it too, but whenever I hear of a car going into a river, or buried in a landslide or under a building after an earthquake, I think about what it would be like and if there was anything you could do if it was you in that car. there are actually several stories of people being rescued from inside cars buried in snow slides, but snow is a lot lighter than mud or buildings. This mud would not only have put close to 1000 lbs per square foot of area pressure on the car if was buried only 10 ft deep, as much of the landslide was, but everything was swept away, sometimes several thousand feet from where it was first struck by the mass of moving mud. This area was full of mature evergreen trees, being swept along in your car at perhaps 100 miles an hour, even if the car would "float" on top of the moving mud, means it would be slamming you into very large trees. this would have likely flattened and wrapped the car around the trees, and even ripping the it apart. There were reports of cars found ripped in half. The mud at this point as also full of large tree trunks, stumps, boulders and a number of barns and houses. So in retrospect, not likely anyone in a car would have survived inside an air pocket. Depiste the semi fluid state of the mud, it would be like being under building dropped on your car. Not even a battle tank would have survived that kind of punishment.
There is some stories leaking out from the volunteers that sometimes they only find parts of victims. when they find an arm or leg sticking out of the debris they are fearful of tugging on it because it may not be attached to a victim. Considering the force of the moving mass of mud is enough to rip a car apart, this would not be unlikely. There will be some bodies they never retrieve, and perhaps only find a few parts of others. There is almost 2 million cubic yards of mud to sift through and move aside to find everything, it seems an impossible task.
One searcher said that typically when human remains are spotted in the piles, it is treated very reverently and solemnly by the volunteers. A group forms around it and they all silently, and very carefully pull away the mud, trash and rocks to expose the whole body, and many hands lovingly lift it onto a body board or liter, cover it with a blanket and call for an extraction. I have even heard from of the volunteers they will often find family pets in the debris, and are often treated the same way. In the middle of all that carnage all life becomes very dear, and the family pets were once loved by the families that were lost. Almost all of the victims recovered so far have been found not by the "professionals", but by all of the locals that volunteered to help their neighbors and friends. they knew where these houses were and many knew how many people lived in each home. This local knowledge has become an important asset in recovering all the victims. When federal "professionals" showed up they ordered all of the volunteers away, there was so much anger that the local fire and police chief overruled them. Many of the volunteers were heavy equipment operators, loggers, miners who know the area, were better equipped than the "professionals" and knew what to do. A few days later the FEMA offices actually hired the equipment operators. the ones that they turned away who wanted to do it for free. Federal bureaucrats can be such idiots, no one I have heard around here is happy they showed up, they have been no help and often got in the way. I suspect too that since most of the rural residences are well armed, they told the feds to back off or they might just become a victim of the mudslide "lost" somewhere in under the earth.
This is not an unusual story I hear from disaster areas. various local agencies and voltmeters come out to recuse and help survivors, set up temporary shelters and feild hospitals, than a few days later the feds (FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Agency) shows up with the portable offices, and starts telling all the locals what to do. In this case they set up their portable offices 15 miles away. And than everyone from the surrounding area shows up to help, or brings donated supplies, the FEMA officials turn them away. I think when you go to work for the Federal government, part of your brain must disappear.
One friend who lived only a few hundred yards down stream of the slide was evacuated from her house following the slide. There was fear the earth dam might fail and flood down stream and take out more houses. Her husband returned to the home the next day (even though the flooding danger was not over), a neighbor who stayed behind told him he saw suspicions strangers inspecting and lurking about near the evacuated homes. He had chased them off (I imagine while holding a 12 gauge shot gun) and they have not been back since. It is amazing to me that there are a tiny few who would come out here to take advantage and steal from disaster victims. They were also incredibly stupid too, not only are people in this area well armed but they also watch out for their neighbors.
I think we get it; the Federal government, in any way, shape, or form is evil, unfeeling, and at best incompetent...except the military (and under certain Administrations, even it)...].
That said - you are providing some valuable insights into the tragedy; thanks.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
We need the government for many things. There are things the government does well, and we need it to do those things. It also does things well because of its size, like the military, interstate hwy system, etc. Although there are tremendous waste and abuse of those things too. It in fact can not be helped when there are that many people involved trying to build an aircraft carrier, a space shuttle or other major undertaking.
but it also does not do many things at all well because of its size, and should just stay away from those areas where it is not necessary, and not needed, and usually not wanted.
However, I think when such trageties occur, every law maker in the state and even the country feels like they should do something to help. that means more laws and regulations, and again the outcome is usually not helpful. It seems with government, the more things change, the worse they get.
There is lots of blaming going around, all premature of course. But I think I know what caused it! the failure was not like a landslide but more like a dam bursting, it took out homes over 3000 ft away from the toe of the slope that was only 600 ft high. this is NOT a normal landslide. this has been bothering me all week, and I figured it out.
It started when the smaller slide in 2006 built up at the toe of the slope. this hillside is alternating layers of sand, gravel, silt and clay (you can see it in the photos). Normally you get perched water tables on top of these layers of clay, and they drain out the face of the hillside. When the slide in 2006 happened, it allowed these clay layers to lay against the hillside since they were no longer horizontal, acting like a dam. Normally the river would than carry the old landslide debris away, allowing the hillside to drain. But the state thought it was a good idea to redirect the river and armor the new toe of the slope to prevent the erosion from harming the fish habitat. It was like a leaky dam, normally the seasonal rain water would leak out, but this early march saw much more rain than normal and the water accumulated faster than it could leak out past the old landslide debris and it burst out just like a dam break. It took the upper half of the hill with it. That is why it is so wet, why no one could walk no it the first day. Why it killed people over a half a mile away. It is the only thing that can explain why the mountainside just burst out full of water. Why the soil failed 300 ft deep inside the mountain, it was fully saturated and holding up a 600 ft high "lake" of water. The logging did not cause it, it was the accumulation of subsurface water that had no where to go. Normally to stabilize a hillside, which I have done many times in my work, you stabilize the toe with reinforcements, and dewater the hill. In this case they stabilized the toe but did not dewater the hill, and the old landslide actually acted like a reservoir so the pressure kept building until it bust out.
Sounds logical to me, but I'm just an old bicycle wrench.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
I'm in Port Angeles right now. I read a story in the local paper about a young mother who lost her 4 month old AND her mother in this slide. I couldn't help but tear up a little, being a father to a young one. Total nightmare for her.
Current vehicles: 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD Turbodiesel with 211,000, 1994 Buick Century with 50,000, and a 2004 Toyota Corolla 5-speed with 153,000 (not mine, but I drive it)
I also have 8 vacuums, 8 typewriters, 5 sewing machines, and two lawnmowers...
