Sunday Times 2
Tragic stories emerge as US landslide toll inches up
View(s):LOS ANGELES, March 29 (AFP) – Tragic stories have emerged of individual victims of a massive US landslide, as the confirmed death toll inched up Friday amid fears the eventual number dead will be much higher.
Ninety people remain missing after the mudslide crashed down on the Washington state town of Oso last weekend, in what could be one of the biggest landslides ever in the United States. The confirmed death toll edged up from 16 to 17 on Friday, but the actual number so far found is believed to be at least 25, including eight bodies located in the debris by earlier in the week.
An aerial view shows the hillside which collapsed and produced a mudslide near Oso, Washington (Reuters)
A total of 49 dwellings in the rural town were hit by the square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) wall of mud, rocks and trees, which also destroyed part of a highway about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.
More than 200 rescue workers have been working in tough conditions for six days. A few survivors were found immediately after the mudslide, but none since last Saturday.
One of the most moving stories is that of Natasha Huestis, whose four-month old baby daughter Sanoah Violet are both among the confirmed dead. Huestis had left her daughter with the infant’s grandmother, who was looking after the baby at her home — which was directly in the path of the massive landslide.
“Sanoah’s name is Hawaiian.My mom, she came up with Sanoah’s middle name, Violet,” she said. “Sanoah Violet. Her name means mist in the mountains.And you know, she’s in the mountains right now.” Gary McPherson, 81, and his 69-year-old wife, Linda, were sitting reading the paper next to each other in their Stillaguamish Valley home when the monster slide swept the entire structure for 150 yards.
He survived — apparently because he was sitting in a heavy wooden chair, which protected him — but his wife didn’t.
“Before he heard people coming, he was able to dig a hole and see the sky,” their 38-year-old daughter, Kate, told the Los Angeles Times. “The whole time, he was calling for my mom, who was right next to him, but she never responded.” Rain again hampered efforts Friday by emergency teams searching for bodies in the vast mass of sticky mud and debris, which obliterated nearly 50 homes.
| Shallow quake rattles jittery Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, March 29 (AFP) -A shallow 5.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the Los Angeles area Friday causing power cuts, gas leaks and bursting water mains, and stopping rides at Disneyland. While no injuries were reported, objects fell from shelves and furniture toppled over, according to photos posted on social media, while TV pictures showed a car flipped over by a rockslide. The quake, which hit at 9:10 pm (0410 GMT Saturday), was the biggest in the Los Angeles area for six years, since a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck nearby Chino Hills in 2008. Friday’s quake came after one measuring 4.4 earlier this month. The quake’s epicenter was near La Habra, about 22 miles (35 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and could be felt across the LA metropolitan area, including in Hollywood. Disneyland shut down rides as a precaution, according to NBC4 television. A Disneyland spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Ring of Fire California has long braced for the “Big One.” The western US state is on the so-called Ring of Fire, which circles the Pacific and has produced a number of devastating quakes including Japan’s March 2011 quake-tsunami, which killed thousands of people. Seismologists say a quake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 percent certain to hit California in the next 30 years. |