Mud slide

[Dave]

There was a huge mud slide up north of Seattle on Saturday morning. They are saying it covers one square mile. Completely blocked off the river that runs through that valley and wiped out 30 homes. They have been saying that there was 8 confirmed dead. But now they are saying that the "loose list" of missing people is 108.

 

[TexasBred]

Bad situation. Heard it on the news this morning but very few details. Did hear that the mud was close to 70 ft. deep in places. Doesn't sound good.

 

[red angus 2010]

There was a huge mud slide up north of Seattle on Saturday morning. They are saying it covers one square mile. Completely blocked off the river that runs through that valley and wiped out 30 homes. They have been saying that there was 8 confirmed dead. But now they are saying that the "loose list" of missing people is 108.

When I read the news I thought of you and was hoping this was not close. Very terrible situation for families.
Feel for the operators of equipment very slow delicate removal.

 

[Dave]

They say the only way rescue workers can get around is to walk on the logs. Step off the logs and you are in soup up to your waist or deeper. I have driven up that road but it was years ago. The graph showing river flow downstream of the area is pretty dramatic. It went from 700-800 cubic feet per second to next to nothing. Water behind the slide was backing up at a rate of nearly two feet per hour. They were worried that it would break this dam and cause a flash flood down stream. It has now started to thread its way over the dam and will cut an new channel. We have had a lot of rain in the last two months. That area basically had double the normal rainfall. But all said and done, 108 missing people....... you wonder if they will ever find all of them.

 

[red angus 2010]

Unfortunately, they probably won't all be recovered

 

[cow pollinater]

I don't know which position I'd want to be in the least, the victim of the slide, or the rescue worker trying to get in there to help and not being able to do much of anything. It's just a sad situation that will take a long time to sort out and the victims that are still alive don't have a long time.

 

[Hook]

Been watching the details the last few days. Horrible situation and prayers for the families and te rescuers

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Dave, a friend of ours is fairly high up in chain of command at Snohomish County S.O. We called them Sat. PM to make sure they were okay (they are), but he said then that the situation was really bad -- that casualties would be high. Supposed to be another press release in just a few minutes.

Press conf. a few minutes ago confirmed 14 dead -- 6 more found today. Responders have found no one alive since Saturday afternoon. Going through/compiling/checking their list of missing, it is now at 176 vs. earlier report of 108. Yep, it's bad. Prayers are with those waiting/watching/grieving and the responders and volunteers working.

 

[Caustic Burno]

There was a huge mud slide up north of Seattle on Saturday morning. They are saying it covers one square mile. Completely blocked off the river that runs through that valley and wiped out 30 homes. They have been saying that there was 8 confirmed dead. But now they are saying that the "loose list" of missing people is 108.

I can't even comprehend such a disaster.

 

[Deepsouth]

Been watching the details the last few days. Horrible situation and prayers for the families and te rescuers

I completely agree.

 

[Putangitangi]

The story has been hitting the news every hour here too. It's a shocking thing.

We once had a tiny (by comparison) slip here, up in the hills and I remember coming around the corner to find it and the quality of the earth which had moved was astonishing, in that it had moved like a liquid, carrying huge trees and boulders along down the hill into the stream. Imagining that more than 100 times worse is incomprehensible.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

The ground is still too unstable to check some areas.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

The slide is about 80 miles north of here.

The area is in the northern convergence zone and gets alot more rain than we do here. Almost double the amount this month.

I'm worried about the river trying to cut a new path.

Hope and prayers to all involved.

 

[Alan]

Terrible thing, reports say rescue workers compare search to walking on quicksand. It may not be over for them another week or ten days of rain coming into the northwest starting today. One big concern is the slide created a dam on the river causing it to back up and flood. But the real concern is if the mud dam lets go, it will wipe out a lot down stream.

 

[greybeard]

Unfortunately, they probably won't all be recovered

Probably not since the debris pile of broken houses and soil is in the river. Sounds a lot like a debris mountain that is pushed inland with a storm surge of a hurricane. They find most, but never all, and some remains are discovered years later.
Bad no matter how one looks at it.

 

[Dave]

Unfortunately, they probably won't all be recovered

Probably not since the debris pile of broken houses and soil is in the river. Sounds a lot like a debris mountain that is pushed inland with a storm surge of a hurricane. They find most, but never all, and some remains are discovered years later.
Bad no matter how one looks at it.

The houses aren't in the river. The river was against the base of the hill. The hill that slid was on the north side of the river. The houses were all on the south side. The slide went clear across the road which is a pretty fair distance south of the hill or the river. I have driven that road a bunch of times but that was some years ago. Of course with the river backing up and a new series of rain storms moving in it is hard telling where the new river channel will be. I wouldn't think that the dam will break. It looks to be too long and thick. The water will find the lowest spot and start cutting a new channel. The way they are describing the mud, once the river starts flowing it won't take long to cut a new channel.

 

[Alan]

Fox reported this morning up to 176 missing and 14 dead, I believe they reported about possibility of dam breaking ......... But it is the shock jock media.

Anyone have a link to good pics of the slide? I have found some but no good views that show the whole picture.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[dun]

In the 50s I used to steelhead on the Stilli, but my favorite was sea run cuts and sea run dollys. But of course there weren;t many houses around ther back then, mostly just farms.

 

[Alan]

Not to hijack this serious thread, but sea run cuts are fun! Haven't fished in years, but boy those fish were fun, pound for pound every bit as fun as a wild steelie.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

If you go on-line and search for 530 MUDSLIDE, you'll find lots of pics in the images, including some that are interactive, so you can see what it looked like before/after.

Find local media updates by a search for KOMO SEATTLE or Q13 SEATTLE or KING5 SEATTLE