Landslide - Little hope remaining for survivors

[Deleted]

I never could imagine the magnitude of devastation from a square mile of landslide. Only a couple of people found alive. So many missing. People that were driving along the road, Houses broken to bits with families inside, the search is difficult.

www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/us/washington-landslide/

Darrington, Washington (CNN) -- Brenda Neal was still at the firehouse at midnight, watching as rescuers caked with mud returned from the search for survivors of a massive landslide in rural Washington state. But they had no answers for her about her missing husband, Steven.
There was despair on their faces, she said.

Rescuers on Tuesday continued to battle debris and mud -- with the consistency of quicksand in some places -- in the search for survivors, but hopes dimmed as news broke that more bodies were found.

"Unfortunately, we didn't find any signs of life," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots told reporters during a briefing.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

They've found a few animals alive - and still have hopes that if they can survive, so can people - we can only hope.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

This is about an hour from here.

Most reports at this point by those searching is that it is a recovery operation.  Cadaver dogs have been brought in.

No one has been found alive since Saturday.

[djAdvocate]

this slide totally sucks.

[mmhmm]

From what I read, nobody has been found alive since Saturday.  What a sad thing for these families.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

What's even more sad is the multiple geological reports predicting the strong possibility of land slides, yet people continued to build there.

They went back and dug up all the reports, and the report's predictions were validated.

[Lizard King]

Mar 26, 2014 12:31:28 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

What's even more sad is the multiple geological reports predicting the strong possibility of land slides, yet people continued to build there.

They went back and dug up all the reports, and the report's predictions were validated.

A truly disturbing number of fatalities in human history stem from the calculus at some point of weighing the strong likelihood of eventual tragedy against the virtual certainty of short-term profit.

Siting the major population center of New Orleans on a flood plain near the Gulf Coast is another example. But they are legion.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

There was this one human interest story on the local news of a woman who was building a house there. She was so excited to be moving into her new home, that she had moved in without power or hot water.

The day that the mud slide hit, she was home with the electrician and the guy who was installing her hot water heater. All are still missing.

[Deleted]

About 120 people still missing. Search dogs are exhausted and upset because they are not finding anyone alive. 
It is so shocking to see this amount of devastation. I don't expect the mountains to suddenly fall down or liquefy. 

Here is what a car looks like that the mudslide ran over. Everything mangled and destroyed by boulders and trees on the wild ride down the mountain. They will not be able to find everyone and it is heartbreaking.



 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

30 people missing, 16 have been identified. 5 are waiting for further identification and the paper said that another 4 bodies were found yesterday. Paper this morning announced that they're taking a 2 day break, as people are burning out and the dogs need to rest.

Apparently they are now finding body parts instead of whole individuals.

[djAdvocate]

Mar 28, 2014 0:14:23 GMT -5 @lillylake said:

About 120 people still missing. Search dogs are exhausted and upset because they are not finding anyone alive. 
It is so shocking to see this amount of devastation. I don't expect the mountains to suddenly fall down or liquefy. 

Here is what a car looks like that the mudslide ran over. Everything mangled and destroyed by boulders and trees on the wild ride down the mountain. They will not be able to find everyone and it is heartbreaking.



 

i would say that looks more like a motorcycle or ATV than a car, but i am far from an expert.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

32 identified, 12 remaining missing.

There was a report out (this happened about 60 miles from me) where the town knew that the area was at risk for land slides and there was talk about buying out all the homeowners for their safety. A decision was made to try to shore up the area instead.

You always have 20/20 hindsight.

[djAdvocate]

Apr 8, 2014 13:16:06 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

32 identified, 12 remaining missing.

There was a report out (this happened about 60 miles from me) where the town knew that the area was at risk for land slides and there was talk about buying out all the homeowners for their safety. A decision was made to try to shore up the area instead.

You always have 20/20 hindsight.

this area apparently slid out catastrophically 3-4x before.  it was highly unstable.