# SHTF in my area today



## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

We've had lots of rain this month. There was a mudslide that took out 6 houses and blocked the hwy to my town. Killed 3 and injured at least 12 others. They are still searching for others. My only alternative to get out of town will take me an extra 75 miles. Landline phone only works to call others in my town. Can't reach anyone outside our town. Cell doesn't work where I live. But I have satellite internet and it in not impacted at all. Merchants can't take any debit cards and one I went to took a credit card but they had to do it all on paper with an old card imprinter. ATM won't work. We only have one in our town that I know of. Our fire dept (volunteer) sent all they could to help search.

There is little town is just downstream from the slide area. The slide ended up dumping a wall of mud and debris into the river so much that it backed it up. That town is now considering evacuating everyone since the river backup will likely flood the town.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023201818_mudslidexml.html?syndication=rss


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Wow! I'm so glad you are okay.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is a pic of the hill that came down. Those are 75 foot douglas firs on the top.

http://media.king5.com/images/600*450/0322oso-slide9h.jpg


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

deleted.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

so glad you're ok and are able to bug-in. it does pay to have money on hand for times like that . when we had the storm last year I didn't think I even had enough to pay the guy for shovelling. they don't take debit and I didn't go to the bank beforehand. finally thought of my bug-out bags and scrounged up a few hundred. ~Georgia.


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

Glad you are OK. Pray for the others ..................


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

See.... You just never know. Be prepared!

So glad you are ok. Prayers for the others.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I had gone to the Mennonite store yesterday and heard it on the radio-horrible. Some of us never have to think of these things, sure makes one more aware when your mindset is changed. Glad You are Ok, Your little town will be in my Prayers.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Glad you're ok, logbuilder! I guess all the prepping in the world wouldn't help if your house is washed away by a mudslide. Praying for the ones who lost their lives, and the missing ones!


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

be safe....glad yall are ok.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Good to see you can use the internet to get in contact with the outside world.
Sorry to hear of the loss of the people. Hope they get the town back connected to the outside world.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Logbuilder,
I am so happy you are safe and prepared as best as can be. Things happen in a blink of an eye.


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## lindamarie (Jul 9, 2013)

Prayers to all in the area. Glad you are safe.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Just saw the news this morning, horrible pictures, so glad you are safe and prepared!


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Thanks everyone for your concern. I'm fine. The reports I get this morning are that there are about 18 people still unaccounted for. The number of homes destroyed was initially set at 6 but it might rise to 30. The river continues to back up behind the mud dam and there is great concern about the downstream folks if it suddenly breaks loose. This area has a volcano, Glacier Peak, that has been active several times in the last several thousand years. Maybe 10 miles from me. It deposited a lot of ash over the years. It makes our soil like a fine sand. If it gets waterlogged, it gets mushy.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I thought your picture looked like the volcanic pumice cliffs in our area. That can get very unstable with lots of rain. 

Keep us updated and keep yourself safe!


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

Thanks for the specifics. I read about the mudslide but didn't realize the implications.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is some info on the little town in the most danger and also where the families and homes were. It has no stop light and no stores other than a closed c-store. There are two brothers there that make cedar shake and shingles. That is the only business that I know of there. I've bought shingles from them. They are good folk. Most would travel to Arlington or Darrington to find work. Some raise cattle and horses. Not much ag other than hay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oso,_Washington


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## 355946 (Mar 23, 2013)

I am a Western Washingtonian too and have read about the mudslides down the cliffs and blocking train lines. I am so sorry that your mudslide has now taken lives and threatens more. I'd like to think that efforts to be prepared for crises helped you to cope with this, even though as someone else pointed out, no preps prepare you to lose your home to an onslaught like this. Prayer said and wishing you well,


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is info about my town, Darrington, if anyone is interested. It is a logging town started by folks who came from North Carolina. There is still a tar heel accent lingering among the old timers. I'm from the deep south so it makes me feel at home. Logging is still the biggest industry in the area.

An excerpt from Darrington history:

Some tarheels from Western North Carolina found work in the mill and timber industry in Darrington, Washington, and let that be known back home. Soon there was a large migration of folks from this part of North Carolina to Darrington, and Darrington became a "tarheel" community. These folks brought their traditions from North Carolina to Darrington and lived there substantially in the way they did back at "home," which to them always was North Carolina, to which they made frequent vacation pilgrimages, always saying "I'm goin' back to Tarheel." "Tarheel" was a term given to North Carolinians for their tenacity during the Civil War in resisting attacks. It was said that they fought "like their feet were stuck in tar," didn't budge an inch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrington,_Washington


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is a pic that shows where it slid off the mountain. Not the best pic but does show the magnitude.


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## cast iron (Oct 4, 2004)

Glad everything is ok at your place, logbuilder.

Quite the mess.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

Glad you are safe! Mudslides are so scary to me. Stay safe!


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is an interesting map of the parcels in the area of the slide. Look at the color coding on the right to understand.


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

I am also near this landslide, although not as close as the OP. However the lady I work with's family is all from Darrington. As I am sure the OP knows by now this is so much worse then the media is reporting. Logbuilder did you make the community meeting tonight? 

Friends made it to the East side of the slide trying to help a friend who's house was demolished and see if they could salvage anything, (luckily they had left home an hour before the slide so they are safe, my friends found their dog alive). The scope of this is NOT being reported, there are a lot more that are dead and for some reason it is not getting out. I am not sure if the ME has to confirm that they are dead and who they are first or what, BUT it is so frustrating. The local news is barley reporting this and what they are reporting is just wrong. There are at least 30 houses just GONE. 

And on top of all that the river backing up is rising (flooding) at over a foot an hour. 

Please pray for our community and those who are still missing, their families and the rescue workers. Also please say an extra prayer for the people from Darrington and Oso (which means Bear if you were wondering) as they are the ones who are doing most of the rescue work, they are seeing their friends and neighbors bodies. Their houses are still in jeopardy from the flooding. 

I cannot even wrap my brain around how they can even start to clean up. There is almost a mile of a major Hwy and a large River blocked by anywhere from 40' to much more of mud and debris. 

My Facebook feed is just full of friends posts about missing family members. My heart is just aching for them. I am just so sad. 

Here are some of the pictures. http://www.heraldnet.com/apps/pbcs....NEWS01&ArtNo=323009999&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

Tracy in WA


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I suspected it was much more of an event than was being reported. Terrible. There are lessons, but now is not the time.


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## Riverrat (Oct 14, 2008)

Thoughts and prayers for all in the area, including the emergency responders...I just can't I imagine what it must be like...


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

There were earlier news reports that mentioned the fact that rescuers were facing impossible odds of 15 to 60 feet of mud to reach the areas where there may still be survivors and/or bodies. The rescuers were walking in with heavy ropes attached to themselves but had to be pulled back out due to being sucked under by the heavy mud. I haven't yet found any reports of helicopters lowering rescuers into the mud but the copters were flying low and reporting any possible areas for search efforts. 

There were people rescued and taken to area hospitals and we've seen that reported. With any major disaster covered by the news media, it's been my personal observation that the number of initial deaths is usually reported. What tends to not be reported in depth is the aftermath of a disaster and its' casualties. 

Attention spans are short and brief and the news media plays to that. It's the nature of the beast.


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## skidsareforkids (Nov 16, 2013)

Prayers for all involved.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Logbuilder, in that image it looks as if there had been a previous slide. Do you know if there had been?


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## BlueRose (Mar 7, 2013)

Prayers.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

This is so sad. Prayers for all in the area, the search and rescue teams, all the families involved. 

It sounds like are number of things together caused this, something no one could have considered at the time they built in the area.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

As of this morning, the number of people reported missing is now up to 100. Officials do believe this number will come down but it is a scary number for sure. Based on the parcel map that I previously reported, if occupied, that might not be that unrealistic. And, this was a Saturday morning when folks would not normally have been at work or in school.

http://q13fox.com/2014/03/24/number-of-reported-missing-in-highway-530-mudslide-jumps-to-over-100/

In terms of opening up the road, for safety reasons, the DOT is saying they have not been allowed in the area to determine the condition of the road. Yesterday I had to go to Seattle, we call it 'going down below', and the alternate route added about an hour to a normally 1.5 hour trip (one way). I passed lots of emergency and media vehicles coming from the Seattle side who were trying to get at the slide from the Darrington side. I imagine they are concerned that there is more of that hill to come down. Who knows how they will ever consider it 'safe'.

Landline phones still can't call outside of town or receive out of town calls. We have another town about 20 miles north. I'm hoping they will somehow come up with a way to get us linked into them.

Darrington is a little town with few businesses. Lots of folks work closer to Seattle. Getting there was via this road. We had a public bus that also ran twice a day, once in the morning to get to work and then in the evening to get home. Now these folks will have an additional 2 hours and the fuel cost to get them to and from work using the northern route. That is going to really hurt a lot of folks.

The main business and the only one that employs more than 10 people, is the lumber mill. They get logs trucked in from all over. Most come on that main road. The mill processes the logs into finished lumber that is trucked down mostly to Seattle, again, on that main road. The mill produces a lot of waste in the form of bark, trimmings and sawdust. They are resourceful. They burn some of the sawdust and trimmings to produce electricity for the plant but they still have a lot left over. They make compost out of it. Lots of compost. Several truckloads per day which all get trucked to Seattle for packaging. Most of the mill employees are Darrington residents. It is good work. But, there are rumors that the mill might suspend shipments of lumber and sawdust due to the additional cost to ship using the northern route. For a short time, that might be fine. However, for a long term closure of the road, they can't do that for long. Something will have to change.

We have one grocery store. It gets supplied by distributors in Seattle. It might impact deliveries or the cost of deliveries.

Our library is part of the county system. It is really good and used by the residents a lot but it is small. You can request that any item (book, music or movie) that is in the county system to be sent to our local library. The books come to us and get returned to the system via that main road. The northern route is in another county so who knows if our county will continue to service us. We have no cable in our town so the movie section gets a lot of use. 

As a side note, the library also offers free wifi. They have a parking area outside designated the wifi hotspot. It gets used a lot too. It still works. However, many residents got internet via DSL (we don't have a cable system) and since the phone lines are down, it is not working. The library realized this need. Here is a notice they put out.

"The Darrington Library will open 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Monday, March 24, to provide emergency Internet access for those whose service was cut off by the landslide. Extra laptops will be on hand and wi-fi will be available from the parking lot. Customers with items on hold will have an additional week to pick them up."

Unfortunately, a long time library manager (retired) was one of those killed. She was known by many.

There is another southern route to the Seattle. It is called Mountain Loop Highway. It connects Darrington to an east/west road that goes towards Seattle. Problem is, it is a seasonal road which is 13 miles of gravel road running along the side of the mountain following a river up to a pass where you reach paved roads again. It is a beautiful drive but not easy. Right now, it is still covered with snow where it gets close to the pass. The DOT is saying they are going to get some equipment up there and try to open it up. However, it is common for there to be slides from the winter so it is unknown what they will find.

We have two gas stations in town. Guess where they get their fuel from. Seattle. Prices will likely go up a bit.

With spring coming up, that is a good time for our town. Lots of traffic coming thru town from people traveling from 'the other side', that's what we call the other side of the Cascades east of us, going to Seattle. When summer comes, tourist traffic. Helps our little businesses but the town is really not tourist driven. What we do have are several music festivals each year. Those _really_ help the town businesses in terms of revenue. The most well known and well attended is the Darrington Bluegrass Festival. It has been going on for 38 years and we get some big names which brings in big crowds. How do most get there? The main road which is now closed. Last year we had big crowds when we hosted the archery NFAA Outdoor Field Nationals. Our archery course is known to be one of the best in the country.

I have no idea of how long the road will be out but I hope not too long.

While the slide was 15 miles away, the above shows how an area can be impacted by regional events. Our town has been holding in there for many years. Logging isn't the business it once was. Pile on the above impacts and it won't get any better.


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

7thswan said:


> Logbuilder, in that image it looks as if there had been a previous slide. Do you know if there had been?


Yes this area is a known slide zone. If you Google "Hazel Landslide" you will find the info. It slid in 1988, 2006 and I think 2009. 

Tracy in WA


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

ntjpm said:


> Yes this area is a known slide zone. If you Google "Hazel Landslide" you will find the info. It slid in 1988, 2006 and I think 2009.
> 
> Tracy in WA


Thank You, I will look.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

The are now saying they are concerned for the people doing the searching due to increased possibility of another slide. It is nice and clear with sunshine today. Starting tomorrow and thru the weekend the rain comes in. This time of year when it rains, we get a lot. Rain will increase the possibility of another incident.

http://q13fox.com/2014/03/24/new-risk-of-mudslides-has-some-searchers-pulling-back-from-danger-zone/

We have a new business just getting ready to open. It is a brew pub and eventually a distillery. Unfortunately the owners live on the other side of the slide. One of them lives in OSO where the slide occurred. He was quoted in one of the articles so I know he is OK. They are opening in the old City Hall which was built in the '40s and no longer used. It was costing the town to keep it. The town agreed to rent it to them for $1000 per year with an option to buy later. Win/win for both of them. Who knows when it will open now.

Hopefully the road will be cleared soon.


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

You need a strong stomach to listen to this, but this is the dedicated Scanner for the slide. http://www.snohomishcountyscanner.com/feed-2/ They just pulled another deceased person from the slide. 

Also if anyone is trying to reach someone from Darrington you should know that their Land lines are down, and At&T and T-mobile are not working. The only cell service that is working is Verizon. As logbuilder mentioned the town is setting up areas for people to come and use WiFi. 

Tracy in WA


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Yes there was a previous slide, one in 69 & another more recently. Have been following this closely. Bob was concerned about an old co worker but saw a pic in the paper today.
The area is unstable. Mud is like quicksand.
Rescuers had to be rescued.
Take care Logbuilder!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I had (still have, I think) relatives in Darrington. Hope they are okay. Last total confirmed dead that I heard was 14, but that may have been before the latest body was found. The missing list is over 100, but is believed to have a lot of duplicates on it. Very little is being broadcast on MSM....24 hour a day coverage of the missing airliner, but not much attention paid to a disaster right here in the USA.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Here is a link to a slide show that really does a good job of showing just what it looks like. Unfortunately, there are a few photos that were included for artistic purposes, but you can get beyond that I hope. I think it is a total of 53 photos. IMHO, it captures the spirit of this area and the gravity of the situation. 

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/slideshow/Scenes-from-the-Oso-mudslide-Day-3-82564/photo-6068774.php


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## Becka (Mar 15, 2008)

So very sad. Praying for the rescue efforts and everyone involved.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

I just saw this today, spent several hours reading.

Landslides are SO destructive.

Doesn't look good at all.


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## Aintlifegrand (Jun 3, 2005)

This devestation just breaks my heart...praying for everyone..stay safe logbuilder..I know how hard it is to see your community and friends in a disaster.


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

Ugh, the update for today, 24 confirmed dead, 90 officially missing and 35 unknown. The unknown is people who could have been there maybe, that they are trying to run down. Like John Doe who lived on Steelhead drive had a girlfriend I think named Sally. So they are trying to verify if Sally exists and if so is she safe. 

This was so forceful it ripped cars to pieces, and rumor has been that it did the same to people. sigh.... Each day my heart breaks a little more. 

They are finally getting pretty organized and the support for the families and community has just kept growing. Darrington has their phone service back which is wonderful. They opened early the Mt. Loop Hwy (doesn't normally open until Memorial weekend) a good portion of this road is gravel and I would NOT take it. This is a video they just took of it yesterday. It is a beautiful drive, but can be very scary. http://www.komonews.com/home/video/Mountain-Loop-Highway-readies-to-open-252463351.html

Tracy in WA


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Why did it slide? Is that something that happens in your area or is it deforestation or what?


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

Well that is kind of a complicated questions Ernie, I cannot say for 100% that they never logged this site, but I do know they had not logged it in the last 50 years or so. This particular slope is made up of glacial silt that is prone to slide, on top of having a large river at it's base that eroded it's base. This place has slid before and was written up by geologist as one that would do it again. 

The thing to understand is that, sort of like they have 100 year floods and 500 year floods this is very similar in that absolutely nobody could have known when something this HUGE was going to happen. This monster not only came down the mountain side, but crossed the river wiped out 35 houses continued across the hwy and then took out more house on the other side. The people who live on the other side of the hwy had lived on that property for generations and have never ever had anything like this happen. 

There is also reports that we had a small 1.1 Earthquake on the 10th in the exact spot that gave way. I am not sure that had anything to do with the slide, but maybe combined with having an extra 5" of rain for the month of March was just to much for this mountain side. i think it was the County Emergency manager that said "sometimes massive mudslides just happen". 

Hope that helps a bit, Tracy in WA


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

More sad news for OSO victims. Turns out their insurance policies do not cover land slides. You apparently need a special rider to get that. There are no Washington insurance companies that even offer it. On top of that, their mortgages are still due.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140326/NEWS01/140329217


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Yes, Washington insurance companies are very familiar with landslides and do not offer coverage. This was an issue after the eruption of Mt St Helens, both for flooding and land slide loss, neither covered by private insurance. It was also an issue in the 1990's (I think), when an area east of Kelso, WA slid and took a number of houses out. A lot of folks ended up declaring bankruptcy. 

I hear the total confirmed dead is up to 28 now.


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## Shine (Feb 19, 2011)

No sensationalizing here but this seems to put the slide in perspective:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ped-mountainside-community.html#ixzz2xjvcJkgC

May it be that those that have had losses are comforted.


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## Glacialtill (Aug 16, 2010)

Ernie said:


> Why did it slide? Is that something that happens in your area or is it deforestation or what?


In these before and after photos, the area above the slide was surely clearcut and replanted in the not too distant past.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...461870711140580.html?mod=wsj_streaming_stream


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

There were several things that worked together that caused the slide. The type of soil, sand and volcanic ash, the river under cut the hillside, 4-5 inches of rain in less than a week and possibly a small earthquake. At least that is what the state is saying now.


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## ntjpm (Sep 1, 2008)

They nature of the slide is also strange as it actually collapsed from the middle down first and then the top part gave way on top of the middle. If you look at the after pictures you can see all the trees laying in the middle of the hillside, they are from the top and came down AFTER the middle part collapsed and went rushing out to destroy everything. 


Our community has been amazing, Coastal Community Bank is forgiving all outstanding loans at their bank that slide victims might have had. The University of WA is waiving all tuition for 2014-15 (and some of this quarters too) for any students from Arlington, Darrington and Oso who are enrolled. The outpouring is truly wonderful. 

The slide area is now considered highly contaminated, so all gear, clothes, shoes, coats, pants, gloves and socks have to be thrown out whenever the searchers leave for the night. A lot of the searchers are locals who are using their own stuff, we are talking $200 boots that they have to just toss out. The community has started up a fund to try and help them so when they are done the will still have the things they need to do their jobs. 

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, Tracy in WA


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## stickinthemud (Sep 10, 2003)

This article is from 2010. Heavy rainfall, flooding & landslides are not new:
http://www.sott.net/article/219620-Stillaguamish-River-Reaches-Record-Flood-Stage
"The Stillaquamish River reached record flood stage Sunday afternoon, tying the record set in November of 2006."
"Landslide danger high"
One of the missing is originally from our town. Prayers for all affected.


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