Massive Landslide on local river!

[DizzyDigger]

Sadly, this morning there was a massive landslide that took
place near the town of OSO, located on the North Fork of the
Stillaguamish River.

The slide took out several homes, and has also claimed at least
3 lives. The town of Darrington is completely cut-off from access
on Hwy. 530, and the highway is totally blocked by a massive wall
of mud and debris.

Worse yet, the N.F. of the Stillaguamish (aka: Stilly) is completely
blocked by the slide, causing a massive build-up of water on the
upstream side.

There are real-time river level monitors placed all along our major
rivers, and the one for Arlington shows a very serious issue
developing...all the water is backing up miles above the mid-sized
town of Arlington, which is built just off the banks. Lord help them
if that obstruction blows out all at once, as a massive flash-flood will
go racing down the river channel, blowing out everything in it's path.

Here is the current level in Arlington (Note the drop!)

USGS Current Conditions for USGS 12167000 NF STILLAGUAMISH RIVER NEAR ARLINGTON, WA

The Stilly is also a major Salmon and Steelhead spawning river, and
the lack of water downstream is exposing all the redds (eggs) to
the open air...they won't survive.

There is currently an effort by a group of elitists to stop all suction
dredging for gold in the state because they *think* we cause loss
of fish habitat. Maybe they should be taking on Ma Nature instead,
as the damage done from this one slide is a 100³ times worse than
all the dredging combined for a 10 year period!

I prospect this area frequently, and my thoughts and prayers go out
to the families there, many of which I've met at one time or another.

Hopefully, the blockage can be cleared out slowly, but if it all goes at
once the amount of property and river damage will be very significant.

 

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[jcazgoldchaser]

I am sorry to hear of the loss of life and I hope the best for the families of all involved who are in that area and dealing with the aftermath of this tragedy.

For those interested a quick look on Google Earth of the site shows that this is not the first time that particular spot has let go. I am no geologist or soils expert but from looking at the area above and around it, it appears that there will probably be future slides there too. Life is short at best. Make sure you get the most of it.

Goldenmojo

Yeah, first time I saw this before/after I thought it pretty clear.



Actually, this is a better shot, but it won't insert
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BjaoTP7CcAAn0pR.png:large

 

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[DizzyDigger]

GGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSa bign' fer sure. Mother natures fury can
be deadly for sure. Truly hope they get going asap to divert that water asap or else all LL is gonna
be real loose. Huge bummer to see-John PS--$5'll get ya $10 they'll blame miners fer sure John

Typically, I would agree, but not this time. This is timber country,
and Spotted Owl be damned; men still earn a living falling timber
up here. Unfortunately, in this case I'm afraid it was the timber cutting
that will be held to blame (if anyone).

I see several factors that could be major players in the cause:
1) The hillside has been logged (clearcut)
2) There is over a 400 ft. rise in elevation from the river to
the area where the slide started.
3) We've had a very wet March (so far) and the ground became
super-saturated. Without the timber there to soak it all up, the
soil became loose and the slide was inevitable.

Google screen shots:



Note the rise in elevation:

After reading all the rational posts here I couldn't help but
wonder how the control freaks in our society are going to act. Most likely The area will be
closed and millions of dollars will be spent to help the land to "heal". Meanwhile the people
effected will be ignored and forgotten. Unfortunately most locals looking to help out there
neighbors will be kept out for there own "safety". Of course any mineral exploration will be
shut down for years if not forever.

Not sure what state ya live in, [and I mean no disrespect] but that's an awfully pessimistic viewpoint.

Up here we are all a community (a social trait sorely lacking in big
cities), and anyone affected by this will never be ignored, or forgotten.
We take care of our own, but help is always appreciated.

Second: More than likely they'll clean up the road, clear the blockage
from the Stilly and all the small side-creeks, and then let Ma Nature do
the rest of the cleaning up.

Slides happen all the time, and this one was particularly devastating.
Good men and women are gone, and the families will be affected for
years to come. Nature will heal itself, the Stillaguamish River will
re-route and recover, salmon runs will [hopefully] locate new spawning
areas, the land will grow new timber. Life will go on.

For now, the only thing of importance is finding those missing people,
and sadly, some of them may be under a mountain of mud so thick
they'll never be located, but folks are damn sure gonna try and
find them.

If anything, I expect the area will become a memorial for those lost.

 

[russau]

From the looks of the aireal veiw and the topographic veiw,(to me) this landslide has happened before and probly will again someday.

 

[Hoser John]

425j-thanx much for link to help donate to assist folks-horrendous situation gettn' worse by the minute-John

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Fears rise that more than 8 died in mudslide

They're saying 108 on a 'soft' missing list. More rain is forecast for the area the rest of the week.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Fears rise that more than 8 died in mudslide

They're saying 108 on a 'soft' missing list. More rain is forecast for the area the rest of the week.

The weather has been clear (sort of) for the past couple days, and
with the night time temps down in the low 30's I can't imagine anyone
surviving more than a few hours surrounded by near freezing mud.

Many locals are afraid that the mudflow will become somewhat
of a memorial/tomb for some of the missing. Hoping they can
recover as many of the lost as possible.

Rain is returning tomorrow, and looks to continue awhile due
the the "rain train" heading at us once again.

 

[B H Prospector]

They'll blame miners for sure and global warming as well.

Well you called it rodoconner! Today in the news there was an article stating that climate change may make mudslides more common. These idiots just never give up! Everything is human caused. Never mind the fact that the earth is, always has and always will be changing wheather we are here or not. Geology tells us that.But truth and facts don't fit their agenda of lies.

 

[B H Prospector]

From the looks of the aireal veiw and the topographic veiw,(to me) this landslide has happened before and probly will again someday.

I noticed the same thing russau. I saw it in the before and after pics posted by jcazgoldchaser.

 

[goldenmojo]

I heard today that the place slid in 1967 and 2006. If you look higher up on the left corner it looks like where the next one is going to crack loose. As for the climate change causing more slides now than before, that analogy is the same as the tree falling in the forest. Just because you weren't there to see the massive slides over the last 50 million years does not mean they didn't happen..........

 

[mxer47]

Dizzy, I meant no disrespect to the local community. I live in a very rural area in NV. We had a flood some years back and after about 12 hours the state and federal officials came in and shut down everything roads, bridges, everything. We could no longer help our friends in the effected areas and i couldn't get home for another 18 hoursThey took control. I hope they are helping in this case but I just don't trust "do gooders" they seem to just get in the way.

 

[Hoser John]

There is NO logic in this constant rebuild in a zone that does not support life such as this. Over and over and over and folks just rebuild with that insipid can't happen again or to me BS. Same as coastal homes rebuilt a dozen times-condemn the &^%$#@ place and build elsewhere. How can anyone submit their families and fortunes to such unsound ground??John

 

[DizzyDigger]

There is NO logic in this constant rebuild in a zone that does not support life such as this. Over and over and over and folks just rebuild with that insipid can't happen again or to me BS. Same as coastal homes rebuilt a dozen times-condemn the &^%$#@ place and build elsewhere. How can anyone submit their families and fortunes to such unsound ground??John

Couldn't agree more John. Even in my own little town there are dozens
of properties built either too close to the river (flooding) or too close
to mountain sides that can slide right off. We have a small town here
(Hamilton) that floods any time the Skagit gets over flood level, and those
folks can't even get flood insurance any longer, yet, they just keep
rebuilding on the same spots.

No worries MX..believe it or not the only volunteers they are now
accepting must be Darrington locals. I contacted them yesterday
morning, and was quickly told I'd be "4F" due to my disability. Still,
I had hoped they could have used me in some capacity, but probably
best if I just stay out of the way of able bodied folks.

Access to the area is also very difficult for most, as Hwy. 530 was the
main access for that valley. For now, people are having to detour about
50 miles around it. Darrington can only be reached by driving 35 miles up
the Skagit Valley (one valley N. of where the slide is), and then heading south
again on the [continuation] of Hwy. 530. They're working to open up a back
road known as the "Mountain Loop", a road that is typically closed in the
winter months due to excessive snow buildup. Hopefully they'll have that
plowed out by the coming weekend, but it's certainly no speedway, as the
surface is gravel and speeds will be limited to < 25mph. for over 25 miles
of the road.

There are still bodies buried in the mess covering the highway by the slide,
and it could be a couple months before that main road is open again. No
doubt the slide took all the road surface along with it, so it will need to
be completely rebuilt.

Raining here again, and that's sure to hamper some of the recovery efforts,
and the added flow to the main river (Stillaguamish [Still A Guam Ish] isn't
going to help any. For now the main flow has re-channeled itself around the
slide, and the main river channel is beginning to open back up.

Global warming didn't have Jack Shiatt to do with this slide..in fact it's been
damn cold this winter. That ground has slid before, and IMO it's simply another
function of Ma Nature. These valleys are shaped by landslides and volcanic
push-ups, and just because the process has slowed in recent centuries doesn't
mean things will stay as they are...natures processes are fluid, and humans
need to realize that being in the way of Ma Nature's construction is a bad idea.

 

[B H Prospector]

There is NO logic in this constant rebuild in a zone that does not support life such as this. Over and over and over and folks just rebuild with that insipid can't happen again or to me BS. Same as coastal homes rebuilt a dozen times-condemn the &^%$#@ place and build elsewhere. How can anyone submit their families and fortunes to such unsound ground??John

Just goes to show "You can't fix stupid!"

 

[DizzyDigger]

Sadly, the number folks lost in this tragedy is now up
to 26. One who had just bought her house
there 3 days prior, and others who had lived there for
years.

The event has had a huge impact on our local communities,
but the folks in Darrington are solid, salt-of-the-Earth people
and they are doing everything in their ability to find the lost.

One of our local Geologist/Fish Bio's posted this to another site:

"The Hazel slide is a area of natural instability whose activity is believe to be
influenced by river action at its toe and logging upslope. This the third time since
the early 1950s that a major slide at that location has completely dammed the
river. The second event was in 1967 where the river was temporarily dammed
and the river was forced to a historic slide channel on the south side. In recent
years that have lesser but significant events in 1988 and 2006 where the river
was partially dammed. I recall a study looking at the slide some 15 years ago
(don't remember the year) determined that the slide would remain active and it
was likely just a matter of time until another major event occurred with no way
of predicting when that might be though a period of exception rainfall might be
a triggering event. At the time it was thought that the most likely worst case the
river would be dammed and the land flow would extend well to the south though
as I recall was not expected to come close to hwy 530."

The hill was basically comprised of glacial sand, and didn't have much structure to
hold it all together. The valleys up here are all glacial cuts, and that same overburden
is what makes up many of the hills in the region. Slides happen up here every year,
but never one of this magnitude in recent memory.

Prayers and hopes go out to the families who've lost loved ones. Several parents
of young children are gone, and in some cases the children too. We need to make
sure the next one of these slides doesn't take more lives, but for now the focus
is finding those lost, and helping the grieving to move forward.