Monday, March 24, 2014

Death Toll From Washington Landslide Climbs to 14

By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
March 24,2014; 9:02PM,EDT
 
 
Fourteen people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 people remain missing or unaccounted for after Saturday's landslide in Washington state, according to the Associated Press.
Two people died at the scene and a third person died at an area hospital, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said. Five others were found at the scene during search and rescue operations late Sunday afternoon.
Eight people, including a 6-month-old infant, were rescued and hospitalized.
In this images provided by the Washington State Patrol, debris is shown from a landslide Saturday, March 23, 2014, between Arlington and Darrington, Wash. (Photo/Washington State Patrol)
The landslide occurred about 10:45 a.m. PST on Saturday in Oso on Washington Route 530 between Arlington and Darrington, Wash., and destroyed at least six homes. Oso had a population of 180 people and 62 occupied homes, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
"You need to see it to believe it. I've not seen anything like it since Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980," Snohomish County Executive John Lovick said.
Rescue operations are extremely hazardous due to the debris field, which has been described by rescuers as a "quicksand-like consistency," Snohomish County officials said in a news release Sunday.
The Washington Department of Transportation released aerial photos of the landslide scene at Oso, Wash. (Photo/Washington Department of Transportation)
The cause of the slide is believed to be ground water saturation from heavy rainfall in the area previously this month, sheriff's officials said.
"It sounds very realistic with all the rain earlier in the month. There hasn't been much precipitation in the last few days," AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said.
Everett, Wash., 31 miles southwest of Oso, had 5.64 inches of rain or 261 percent of normal, as of Friday, March 21, 2014.
The slide cut off the City of Darrington and blocked the North Fork of the Sillaguamish River. County officials said the slide is about 1 square mile and up to 15 feet deep.
The extent of the Oso, Wash., mudslide is shown on this map. (Map/Snohomish County, Wash., Officials)
The blockage at the Sillaquamish River has concerned sheriff's officials because of the threat of high impact, downstream flooding once the blockage is gone, according to the department's Twitter feed.
Some water on Sunday, March 23, 2014, had breached the dam created by the landslide on the Sillaquamish River at Oso, Wash. (Photo/Washington Department of Transportation)
State, federal and county agencies were at the scene over the weekend. Search and rescue operations will resume Monday morning.
This image shows where the mountainside collapsed and slid into Oso, Wash., on Saturday, March 22, 2014. (Photo/Washington Department of Transportation)

On Social Media
速報.in
sokuho_in
■CNN 速報(米版):The number of people unaccounted for in the Washington state landslide has risen to 176, Snohomish County official says.
Polo Sandoval
PoloSandovalCNN
Update from officials in #Snohomish County, Washington shows 176 people unaccounted for in connection with deadly weekend #landslide.
Shoutyoursite
shoutyoursite
Death toll from Washington state mudslide climbs to 14, scores missing goo.gl/78NSos #ShoutNews
Mary
MaryM27_81
Praying :( "@Reuters: Death toll from Washington state mudslide climbs to 14, scores missing reut.rs/1jyT5WT"
13m
 

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