Washington Mud Slide

[jerrybob]

Very tough weekend. Our S&R team worked the slide for two days. Terrible mess......mud and debris everywhere. Still can't get big equipment into many areas. Met some wonderful people.......a real community up there. We found lots of personal belongings......everything was bagged and sent for cleaning. Hopefully....it will find it's way to the owners. Tragically.....we found remains as well.....both human and animal. Our fellow searchers are some of the most respectful folks I have ever encountered. When remains were found or a helicopter flew out........everyone stopped searching......paid their respects and helped each other. Been through many rescue operations......this one was really tough. Thoughts to all the families and folks affected by this event. Thanks to all the folks up there working the recovery. We may go back next week-end.

 

[dave1949]

Good for you and team for doing that task. Can't be easy.

I saw one photo taken at street level. In the background an excavator was sitting on the road, and behind that a wall of dirt and debris that the excavator apparently was working its way into. Seen from that perspective, I could get a real understanding of how much that area was buried.

 

[bcp]

From the Oregonian newspaper last Thursday:

 

[dmccarty]

... Our fellow searchers are some of the most respectful folks I have ever encountered. When remains were found or a helicopter flew out........everyone stopped searching......paid their respects and helped each other. Been through many rescue operations......this one was really tough. Thoughts to all the families and folks affected by this event. ...

Working on a disaster site recovering property, much less remains, is very humbling... Much more so when the survivors are around.

In this case, I worry that most of the missing are buried under that mess and some might never be found.

The "landslide" looks like the hill just collapsed. We were in the NC mountains a few summers ago and some of the houses gave me the willies. They were under cliffs and if a rocks or the mountain gave way, it was going to be ugly.

Later,
Dan

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Two factors contributed to this slide. The soil type and saturation that the media have covered ad nauseum, and the fact that the river itself undercuts that hillside. Once enough material is removed, the whole thing slumps down. Rain, soil, and logging in the near past, contributed to the rest.

Point to consider for everyone building on glacial flood plain soils is that if you get an earthquake with saturated soils, the whole thing liquifies in place and can cause buildings to sink straight down.

 

[LJH]

Total respect for all participating in this recovery effort. Please be safe.

 

[dragoneggs]

jerrybob, good on you! Tough work... and noble. Be safe. I know the road as I went to summer camp several times very near by as a kid. My heart goes out to all the families affected.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Two factors contributed to this slide. The soil type and saturation that the media have covered ad nauseum, and the fact that the river itself undercuts that hillside. Once enough material is removed, the whole thing slumps down. Rain, soil, and logging in the near past, contributed to the rest.

Point to consider for everyone building on glacial flood plain soils is that if you get an earthquake with saturated soils, the whole thing liquifies in place and can cause buildings to sink straight down.

From the photos of the area, it looks to me like there were two slides. The first was the unstable soil left over from the 2006 slide, which liquefied and wiped out the houses and highway. Then the upper bench broke loose and slid about halfway down, but did not liquefy. I have seen may slides, and the proximate cause was cutting the toe of the slope.

Risk of slide ‘unforeseen’? Warnings go back decades | Local News | The Seattle Times

 

[Tractor Seabee]

God Bless all you guys that went in there to help. I am 100 Mi away and at my age probably not much help. We are praying for the victims, their families and also all you rescue workers. Keep up the good work.

Ron

 

[turnkey4099]

Two factors contributed to this slide. The soil type and saturation that the media have covered ad nauseum, and the fact that the river itself undercuts that hillside. Once enough material is removed, the whole thing slumps down. Rain, soil, and logging in the near past, contributed to the rest.

Point to consider for everyone building on glacial flood plain soils is that if you get an earthquake with saturated soils, the whole thing liquifies in place and can cause buildings to sink straight down.

Paper today reported that there was an authorized clear cut above the slide that, per dept of Ecology report back in 1987, should not have been allowed.

Harry K