Hunt on for survivors of fatal Snohomish County slide
The Twitter hashtag #530Slide contains images, updates and inquiries from people trying to locate loved ones of area residents missing after a massive hillside gave way near the tiny town of Oso, Wash.
- Steven Goldsmith[1]
- Assistant Managing Editor - Print- Puget Sound Business Journal
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
More than 100 rescuers worked to find 18 residents still unaccounted for after a massive Snohomish County hillside gave way Saturday, destroying six homes, burying a highway and killing at least three.
The debris crashed through homes near the tiny town of Oso, a dozen miles east of Arlington, where the debris also has plugged up the North Fork Stillaguamish River — raising a hazard of sudden flooding that could affect more heavily populated areas to the west.
Crews labored on Sunday to pierce through that debris to allow some of the water to flow.
Meanwhile, family members of area residents posted messages on the Twitter hashtag #530slide[4] in a frantic search for the missing, who numbered 18, according to Snohomish County officials[5] Sunday afternoon.
Gov. Jay Inslee[6] expressed condolences to the victims, and his office set up a webpage with updated information[7] about the disaster.
A Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman said five survivors were being treated there — a 6-month-old baby and an 81-year-old man who were in critical condition, two men in serious condition and one woman in satisfactory condition.
The slide crushed at least six houses, the Herald reported, carrying them in splinters across Highway 530. The slide, estimated to be at least 135 feet wide and 180 feet deep, stretches a mile from where it broke off from the north side of the river.
References
- ^ Steven Goldsmith (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Twitter hashtag #530slide (twitter.com)
- ^ according to Snohomish County officials (wa-snohomishcounty.civicplus.com)
- ^ Jay Inslee (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ a webpage with updated information (governor.wa.gov)