# Landslide in Washington State--any witnesses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361 "2014-03-23T15:35:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/1 "2014-03-23T15:35:13Z")
Good morning everyone–I woke up to news of a deadly landslide in Washington State. About 3 people are dead and 6 (as of now) are hospitalized, most in serious or critical condition. Are there any Dopers within the vicinity who can offer more details? I saw a picture of the raw landscape after the slide and it’s humongous. Best wishes to the victims and I hope measures are taken to identify possible landslides in the area, if possible. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/2 "2014-03-23T20:06:07Z")
There are a number of Youtube videos: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=washington+mudslide&search=Search](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=washington+mudslide&search=Search) There are still 18 people missing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/3 "2014-03-23T20:14:11Z")
I saw a report on the news this morning. At that time, there were three dead and eight accounted for. Eleven people out of 16 homes destroyed. They said WSDOT be watching the Stillaguamish River bridge on the 5 near Arlington in case of a flash flood full of debris. I have to cross that bridge Monday, Wednesday, and probably Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/4 "2014-03-23T21:29:23Z")
[Here is a report from The Seattle Times.](http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/03/18-people-unaccounted-for-in-area-hit-by-slide/) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/5 "2014-03-23T21:46:11Z")
Pretty small in comparison to the Washington slide, but [this one happened right at the put-in to one of my favorite kayaking rivers.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39LCzBS8yOM) ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/6 "2014-03-24T17:31:31Z")
Jesus, [this mudslide in Snohomish County](http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/03/update-on-search-of-mudslide-expected-at-9-a-m-today/), Washington is bad. The pictures of the aftermath are simply terrifying. My thoughts go out to everyone who lost someone, and who still have people unaccounted for. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/7 "2014-03-24T18:03:43Z")
There’s already a thread on this in MPSIMS - [Landslide in Washington State--any witnesses? - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719029) I’ll report this to be merged ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/8 "2014-03-24T18:30:39Z")
Thanks, I looked, but didn’t see the other thread. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/9 "2014-03-24T19:08:50Z")
What put those people in the ICU? Being crushed? Inhaling mud and/or brief suffocation? ---
**Author:** ![Clarisse\_McClellan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Clarisse\_McClellan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clarisse_McClellan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/10 "2014-03-24T19:45:16Z")
Sadly, it was a well known landslide area: > **[Aerial History and LiDAR of the Stilliguamish Blocking Landslide](https://washingtonlandscape.blogspot.com/2014/03/aerial-history-and-lidar-of.html)** > > Aerial and LiDAR images explain a great deal about the landslide that blocked the NF Stilly ( geology-of-silliguamish-blocking-slide  and ... ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/11 "2014-03-24T20:14:14Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > What put those people in the ICU? Being crushed? Inhaling mud and/or brief suffocation? I’m going to assume it was trauma - getting hit by a wall of mud and debris is not a gentle act. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/12 "2014-03-24T20:47:43Z")
> [@Clarisse\_McClellan](#): > > Sadly, it was a well known landslide area: So a question is why did the county allow houses to be built in that area? Note while the landslide is in a rural area the county is part of the Seattle Metropolitan area with a county population of about 700,000 people. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/13 "2014-03-25T03:31:54Z")
CNN is discussing it right now; 14 are confirmed dead, and the latest missing list has 176 names on it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/14 "2014-03-25T12:39:13Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > What put those people in the ICU? Being crushed? Inhaling mud and/or brief suffocation? Likely some of all of the above. > [@PastTense](#): > > So a question is why did the county allow houses to be built in that area? Note while the landslide is in a rural area the county is part of the Seattle Metropolitan area with a county population of about 700,000 people. Because people in the US get cranky when told what they can or can not do? Because it would be “government interference” and “freedom” is more important than anything? There are a LOT of homes built in soon-to-be-disaster-areas in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/15 "2014-03-25T13:03:47Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So a question is why did the county allow houses to be built in that area? Note while the landslide is in a rural area the county is part of the Seattle Metropolitan area with a county population of about 700,000 people. Houses are built in all sorts of dangerous areas, due to willful ignorance, money, denial, or houses being built before the risk was identified. The areas being built in are attractive for a variety of reasons and people are often willing to take the risk. Houses are built in canyons near LA that are susceptible for mud slides, fires, floods, etc because people either ignore the risk or think it’s worth it to live there. Or they simply don’t know better. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/16 "2014-03-25T14:26:36Z")
There was a long history of landslides here as well as several geologic reports predicting bad things. [http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023218573\_mudslidewarningsxml.html](http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023218573_mudslidewarningsxml.html) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/17 "2014-03-25T14:56:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > CNN is discussing it right now; 14 are confirmed dead, and the latest missing list has 176 names on it. > > ☹ Heard a brief snippet on NPR on the way into work that because it was the weekend, lots of people are “missing” because they were away from the area (went for an impromptu trip etc.) which is making it more difficult to account for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/18 "2014-03-26T10:50:49Z")
Now up to 16 dead (officially recovered), but authorities say that they know where eight more bodies are located - they just can’t get to them yet. So (unofficially) 24 now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/19 "2014-03-26T20:17:24Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > CNN is discussing it right now; 14 are confirmed dead, and the latest missing list has 176 names on it. > > ☹ How they managed to squeeze this into the 23:57/day coverage of the missing airliner I’ll never know! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361/20 "2014-03-26T20:36:20Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > How they managed to squeeze this into the 23:57/day coverage of the missing airliner I’ll never know! Vlad Putin must be pissed that his invasion of a sovereign nation isn’t getting all the media coverage anymore… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landslide-in-washington-state-any-witnesses/684361.md?page=2)