Posted on 03/23/2014 2:52:37 AM PDT by Star Traveler
(CNN) -- A devastating landslide in Washington state killed three people Saturday and sent rescuers desperately digging for people crying for help underneath debris, authorities in Washington state said.
The landslide cut off a small town and a river and prompted an evacuation notice for fear of a potentially "catastrophic flood event," authorities said.
The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said, in addition to those dead, seven adults and a 6-month-old boy were rescued and sent to local hospitals.
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle reported that five patients had been airlifted there and were in its care. Three of those -- including the baby, a 58-year-old man and an 81-year-old man -- were in critical condition Saturday night, according to spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
People were crying out for help from underneath debris early Sunday, said City of Arlington fire Capt. Brandon Asher. Rescuers are trying to forge through the wreckage to get to them.
At least six houses were destroyed in the landslide and possibly 16 were damaged, the sheriff's department reported.
The first reports of the landslide came in around 10:45 a.m. (1:45 p.m. ET) along State Road 530, the sheriff's office said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Beautiful area....PRAYERS!
“... it blocked SR 530, the landslide cut off Darrington, a town of about 1,350 people located 75 miles northeast of Seattle and within close proximity to Round Mountain, Whitehorse Mountain and White Chuck Mountain. Part of the Stillaguamish River also was blocked.”
Awful. Prayers up.
I’d like to see a before pic, out of curiousity, iow, were these structures built on or directly under a hillside, were any homes built on stilts or cantilevers, etc?
It won’t take long, btw, for the global warming demagogues to blame “climate change” for this.
Thanks Star Traveler.
I did my first STP training ride through there. Gorgeous place, except for the cement plant.
Lots of after photos here that can give you a feeling for what was there. I had no idea of the scale of this thing.
Thanks cl.
Prayers up for these people and their loved ones. And prayers up for the rescuers, as I cannot imagine their anguish as they try to get to those crying for help.
Yes ... indeed ...
Boy, that really let loose. Be careful where you build your house.
I saw a good movie on Netflix
DETOUR
Not wasting any time with a lengthy plot set-up, the film begins with thirtysomething ad executive Jackson (Neil Hopkins, of ABC’s Lost) waking up in his SUV, which is completely covered in mud. A subsequent flashback reveals that his car was swallowed up by a mudslide on the coastal California highway on which he was headed to an important business meeting.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/detour-film-review-431593
Claire Wolfe says she’s ok.
(I know she has a lot of fans on this forum.)
These people were just going about their business and suddenly the mountain fell on them, is that about right? Terrifying.
Yes, that’s about right.
Latest headline and photos here:
18 people unaccounted for in slide area and 28 to 30 homes impacted by slide, fire chief says
I had counted at least 26 houses in the aerial photos. Damn news reporters don’t work on weekends, so all the wires were just relaying the same incorrect story of “six” houses destroyed.
This is terrible. 18 people unaccounted for after 24 hours. That’s not good in a small town area like that, where everyone knows everyone else. They aren’t lost in the “crowd” somewhere.
And apparently the news outlets don’t know how to use a map or a photo for scale. The bigger trees in these photos are 40-80 feet tall.
That slide is massive.
Prayers for these people, their families, and their animals.
“Prayers for these people, their families, and their animals.”
Yes, agreed, sending prayers for them all!
Hope all Seattle FReepers have your earthquake preps ready!
The slide is about a square mile in size.
“Like quicksand.”
People are (or at least were) alive in the mud, calling for help. Too dangerous to attempt rescue, other than by hanging rescuers from helicopters.
River backing up behind the flow, continuing to keep the mud saturated. (I don’t want to think about what those who are trapped are experiencing.)
Brief little press conference here:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1224800/washington-mudslide-carries-away-house-with-people-inside/
Continuing prayers...hoping for a miracle.
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