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Experts Hope Tragedy Spurs National Efforts To Reduce Risk From Landslides

Experts Hope Tragedy Spurs National Efforts To Reduce Risk From Landslides

By Sandi Doughton, The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — Ten years ago, a panel of leading scientists called for a comprehensive, national program to reduce the risk from landslides — but the plan was never funded.

Now, experts are wondering whether the tragedy at Oso, Wash., will revitalize efforts to assess landslide hazards, communicate them to the public and help local communities improve land-use planning.

“I think there’s a chance,” said Peter Lyttle, landslide-program coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). “As in so many of these awful cases, it’s a teachable moment.”

But even the deaths of more than 40 people may not be enough to shift national priorities, said University of Washington political scientist Peter May, who served on the National Research Council (NRC) committee that authored the report in 2004.

“It might lead to innovative ways to use existing funds, but I don’t think it will lead to the creation of a serious, national program,” he said.

There has never been a groundswell of public support for efforts to lower the risk from landslides, May pointed out. And because slides strike sporadically and are usually isolated events, they rarely rise to the top of the list when politicians are drawing up budgets.

“It’s a difficult problem,” May said. “It’s only in the aftermath of events like Oso that alarm bells go off and people say, ‘Maybe we better do something about it.’ ”

The NRC committee recommended a $365 million, 10-year program coordinated by the USGS, with much of the money passed on to states. But actual funding for USGS’ landslide work has averaged less than a tenth of that amount over the past decade.

After several major landslides in the late 1990s, including one in La Conchita, Calif., that destroyed 14 houses, the USGS mapped out an ambitious landslide program at the direction of Congress. Based on data from the 1980s, the agency estimated 25 to 50 people are killed every year by landslides in the United States, with property damage exceeding $2 billion.

But those numbers are outdated, said Lynn Highland, of the USGS National Landslide Information Center.

Better measurement of the economic and human toll from landslides was one element of the program proposed by the USGS and endorsed by the science panel in 2004. Others included scientific research on landslides and their triggers, maps of high-hazard areas, and monitoring of the most treacherous areas to provide warnings for communities in harm’s way.

The plan also called for outreach programs to ensure that information reaches people at risk from landslides and the local agencies that oversee land use and development.

“One thing that makes landslide hazards different from earthquakes or hurricanes or other types of natural hazards is that it tends to be dealt with at a local level,” Lyttle said. “There are lots of arguments in just about every community in the nation about whether to strictly zone or not.”

In some parts of the country, landslide-mapping programs have been discontinued because of the possible impact on property values, said Scott Burns, a landslide expert at Portland State University.

But plans are already in the works for a new landslide hazard map of Snohomish County, where the recent tragedy occurred, Lyttle said.

The question of a revitalized landslide program will also be on the agenda in June at the annual meeting of the American Association of State Geologists, Lyttle said.

USGS scientist Jonathan Godt met last week with staffers who work for Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, and Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado — which was hit by multiple landslides this past winter — to discuss possible ways to bolster landslide programs.

But money is tight, Lyttle said. “To carve out an increase for one program tends to mean that somebody has to find a place to cut.”

If nothing else, the Oso slide should spur mayors and other local elected officials to start asking questions about landslide safety, May said. “They should be talking about it and asking: ‘What are we doing? Should we be doing more?’ ”

Highland, of the National Landslide Information Center, is working on a pilot project to combine state landslide inventories as a small step toward a national inventory. But another project she planned to start this spring — to develop a new estimate of economic losses from landslides in Washington and Oregon — was canceled due to lack of funding.

Marcus Yam/Seattle Times/MCT

‘Active Search’ Ends For Mudslide’s Last Two Victims

‘Active Search’ Ends For Mudslide’s Last Two Victims

By Jack Broom, The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — The brother of one of the two people still missing in the Washington state mudslide said he understands and accepts Snohomish County officials’ decision to greatly scale back the search.

“The amazing thing is that of 43 people who were lost, 41 were found,” said Frank Hadaway of Puyallup, one of three brothers of Steve Hadaway, of Darrington.

“So do I have an issue? No. Reality is reality,” Frank Hadaway said. “We knew this day was coming sooner or later.”

Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary on Monday said the county has ended the “active search” for the victims of the March 22 mudslide that killed at least 41 people and covered Highway 530 near Oso.

It was a difficult decision, Trenary said, but the search will now be made as weather conditions allow and where evidence indicates the remains of the last two missing people — Hadaway, 53, and Kris Regelbrugge, 44 — might be. Regelbrugge was home and Hadaway was doing work at a house when the slide struck.

Operationally, that means the search effort that drew 900 to 1,000 people each day at its height is down to about 30, Trenary said. More searchers could return if specific evidence is found indicating a victim might be nearby.

Monday’s announcement also means that most of the workers from various offices and agencies supporting the search will be sent back to their regular assignments.

Asked if the decision to cut back the search was accepted by the families of Hadaway and Regelbrugge, Trenary would say only that he has talked to a number of victims’ families since the slide occurred, and will not discuss those conversations.

Calls by The Seattle Times to relatives of Regelbrugge on Monday were not returned.

Recent wet weather has complicated the search and increased danger to searchers, Trenary said.

The sheriff acknowledged there is a possibility the final two bodies will not be recovered. However, he stressed the search will continue, far more limited in scope and manpower. “We’re now at a smaller scale … searching a much smaller area,” Trenary said.

He said deciding to scale back the search was difficult because “we know Kris (Regelbrugge) and Steve (Hadaway)’s families are both looking for closure.” Hadaway’s body is believed to be in a deep pool that will need to be drained before further searching is practical, Trenary said.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the remains of all 41 slide victims it has received.

As debris removal continues, spotters in the field will work alongside heavy-equipment operators to identify personal property. An active search could resume if conditions change, allowing access to areas that were previously inaccessible, according to a news release.

Also Monday, Snohomish County Executive John Lovick said the county and state are working to set up an independent commission to review actions taken — and not taken — in the slide area before and after the slide.

The review presumably will examine whether the county took adequate steps to warn residents after previous slides, and if the response to the disaster proceeded as quickly as it should have.

In addition, the county will open a long-term recovery center in Darrington this week to offer services to those affected by the slide. Gary Haakenson, the county’s executive director for public safety, will lead the multifaceted recovery effort.

Haakenson said that work will focus on eight key themes for recovery: economic, housing, health, community planning, infrastructure, natural/cultural, social, and Highway 530 itself.

In the slide, a mammoth stretch of hillside fell near Oso, between Arlington and Darrington, and spread across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, covering houses and a stretch of the highway. President Barack Obama, who viewed the slide area last week, announced $7.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help Snohomish County with the disaster’s costs.

A “primitive” one-lane road around the Highway 530 slide area was to open at midnight Monday, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The two-mile route is intended for local residents, although drivers will not need to show ID.

Vehicles will travel behind pilot cars, and no stops will be allowed. State troopers will be stationed on each end of the restricted section.

Travis Phelps, Transportation Department spokesman, said caravans will be led through the area in the westbound direction every hour on the hour, and eastbound every hour on the half-hour.

The roadway, which has been used by Seattle City Light crews, is part dirt, part gravel and has some asphalt sections. It runs south of the debris field east of Oso. The road will be open 24 hours a day, but logging trucks will only be allowed through between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Phelps said the state is studying what it will take to open Highway 530, but no target date to reopen is set. He said it’s not yet known how much work is needed to clear and repair the road and make the route safe.

Lindsey Wasson/Seattle Times/MCT

Obama To Visit Washington Mudslide To Pledge Support For Response

Obama To Visit Washington Mudslide To Pledge Support For Response

By Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, on his way to a weeklong trip to Asia, is headed to Washington state Tuesday to survey damage from the mudslide and meet with survivors, first responders and local officials one month after the tragedy.

More than 40 people died in the disaster, which claimed more than two dozen homes on the outskirts of Oso, a small town an hour’s drive from Seattle. The medical examiner’s office is still working to identify victims of the devastation.

The visit will be Obama’s only domestic stop on his way to Asia, where he plans to talk about trade opportunities with foreign leaders and discuss the U.S. role in regional security. Nearly three years after vowing to shift the focus of U.S. foreign policy to Asia, Obama heads to the region to try to convince friends and rivals alike that he remains serious about that goal.

Obama is to meet with the heads of state in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, deliver one major speech and take questions at no fewer than four news conferences. Obama was forced to cancel last fall’s visit to Asia when House Republicans forced a government shutdown.

Still, top White House advisors are worried about turning the president’s attention from domestic matters for too long. His visit to Washington state comes exactly a month after an unstable hill collapsed four miles outside Oso, bringing mud and debris crashing across the Stillaguamish River and covering nearly a square mile that included a rural neighborhood. As of Monday, 41 people were confirmed dead and others were still missing.

Obama plans to fly into Paine Field, the Snohomish County airport north of Seattle, shortly after noon local time and then deliver remarks at a firehouse. He is expected to pledge continued federal support for the response, a White House aide said. Earlier this month, Obama declared a major disaster in the state of Washington, ordering federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts.

Marcus Yam/Seattle Times/MCT

Death Toll Hits 37 In Washington Landslide; Seven Remain Missing

Death Toll Hits 37 In Washington Landslide; Seven Remain Missing

By Paresh Dave, Los Angeles Times

A 37th body has been recovered from the debris of last month’s landslide in Washington, officials announced Tuesday.

The remains have not yet been identified, leaving the number of missing people at seven.

The powerful and quick-moving landslide on March 22 in Oso killed families at home and contractors who were working in the community. A 37-year-old man remained hospitalized late Monday in satisfactory condition, Harborview Medical Center said.

Officials said search crews were helped Monday by a rain-free day — but there was a 70 percent chance of rain Tuesday.

The landslide flowed across a river in a square-mile debris field. Workers at the site are moving around the debris and pumping out water to gain access to unsearched areas. They have “made good progress” on building a temporary berm to block additional water from penetrating some of the debris, the county said.

The landslide also blocked a two-lane highway that is main link between rural communities and the cities of Everett and Seattle. Snohomish County officials said the Red Cross is providing gas cards to help residents who have had to shift their routes. State transportation managers have also begun meeting with community members to see how and when to clear the highway and reopen it.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the area and meet with victims’ families on the one-month anniversary of the landslide next Tuesday. This week, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered flags to be kept at half-staff through the 22nd.

Lindsey Wasson/Seattle Times/MCT