Floodwaters are receding at the site of a massive mudslide that crushed a rural Washington state community, allowing crews to expand their search and yielding more human remains in areas that previously couldn't be reached. The views presented this week on a media tour were chilling: shredded homes and twisted cars.
A county medical examiner increased the death toll to 29 on Wednesday; 20 people are still listed as missing.
More than 10 days after a large section of a rain-soaked hill crashed down on a neighborhood in the small community of Oso, teams with cadaver dogs are still sifting through debris and soil to determine exactly how many people died in the March 22 mudslide.
The mudslide had dammed up the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, causing water to pool. Heavy rain last week added to the flooding. But on Tuesday, the weather was dry and sunny again. With the rain stopped, at least for a few days, the floodwaters are receding, which is allowing more crews to switch from water pumping to searching.
"A lot of logjam areas, that's where we're finding human remains," search effort division supervisor Steve Harris said on Tuesday.
Here are some facts and observations in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Washington state in this century:
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion