Oso, WA mudslide

[Stephane Dumas]

There was a mudslide who happened at Oso, a town in Washington State
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/us-usa-mudslide-washingtonstate-idUSBREA2L0R020140324

(Reuters) - As many as 108 people remained listed as missing two days after a mudslide hit dozens of homes and killed at least eight people in Washington state, heightening fears that the casualty toll would grow well beyond the confirmed deaths.

Emergency management officials expressed doubt that anyone else would be plucked alive from the muck that engulfed dozens of homes when a rain-soaked hillside along State Route 530 near Oso, Washington, gave way on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, concern lingered about flooding from water backing up behind a crude dam of mud and rubble dumped into a river by the slide in an area about 55 miles northeast of Seattle.

"The situation is very grim," said Travis Hots, Snohomish County District 21 Fire Chief. "We're still holding out hope that we're going to be able to find people that may still be alive. But keep in mind we haven't found anybody alive on this pile since Saturday in the initial stages of our operation."

[Brian556]

I saw that on CNN. That's an insanely large slide. It really isn't getting the news coverage it deserves.

[NE2]

hi your name means bear

[hm insulators]

I'm astounded at just how huge a chunk of the mountain came down. Those poor people frantically searching for their loved ones.

[golden eagle]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who were affected, and those who lost loved ones.

I can't imagine how terrifying having a landslide come down and destroy everything in its path, and that there was very little or no time at all to prepare and get out of harm's way.

[Brian556]

It has now come out on CNN that this area not only has a long history of slides, but that a report on the danger of something like this happening was prepared in 1999.

So, like the residents of Herculaneum and Pompeii, these people made a poor choice of where to live, and ultimately paid the price.

[J N Winkler]

It has now come out on CNN that this area not only has a long history of slides, but that a report on the danger of something like this happening was prepared in 1999.

So, like the residents of Herculaneum and Pompeii, these people made a poor choice of where to live, and ultimately paid the price.

I think it is a bit early to say that they were irresponsible--they might, for example, have assumed that the planning authorities would have required remediation (installation of drains and buttresses) before any construction was permitted.  I believe that if state DOTs ever published maps showing the parts of their highways that are built on top of ancient slides, we would be surprised at how high the mileage is.

[Stephane Dumas]

It has now come out on CNN that this area not only has a long history of slides, but that a report on the danger of something like this happening was prepared in 1999.

So, like the residents of Herculaneum and Pompeii, these people made a poor choice of where to live, and ultimately paid the price.

I heard of a similar story about the landslide of St-Jean-Vianney in 1971, a village near Jonquiere(Saguenay), where some people said part of that area was built on some swamp terrain with 2 small deep lakes.  Some witnesses and survivors of that tragedy remember that moment in that French video.  31 peoples lost their lives and there could had been more if people wasn't awake to watch a hockey game.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwmr4c_tout-le-monde-en-parlait-saint-jean-vianney_news
and more links about it on the SRC(French CBC) site and on the French Wikipedia entry
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/environnement/catastrophes_naturelles/clips/945/
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/environnement/catastrophes_naturelles/clips/936/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Jean-Vianney

[Brian556]

I wasn't trying to be hateful or anything, and I realize that there are natural hazards in a lot of areas.

This was an insanely large event with a huge loss of life.

The amount of dirt and the distance it moved is mind boggling.

[J N Winkler]

I wasn't trying to be hateful or anything, and I realize that there are natural hazards in a lot of areas.

I didn't think you were; I just wonder how much foreknowledge the victims could realistically have had.  This situation doesn't sound similar to what happened at Mount St. Helens in 1980, where there was an eruption on March 18 (two months before the big one at 8.32 AM on May 18) and essentially the only people left in the evacuation zone had said straight out--often on network TV--that they were prepared to accept the risk.