Waters recede, helping search for mudslide victims
Source: AP-EXCITE
By MANUEL VALDES and LISA BAUMANN
ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) - It is a grim step forward in the search for human remains at a mudslide that crushed a rural Washington community, but an important one: floodwaters at the site are receding, allowing crews to expand their search and yielding more human remains in areas that previously couldn't be reached. The views presented Tuesday on a media tour were chilling: shredded homes and twisted cars.
More than 10 days after a large section of a rain-soaked hill crashed down on a neighborhood in the small community of Oso, teams with cadaver dogs are still sifting through debris and soil to determine exactly how many people died in the March 22 mudslide.
The mudslide partially dammed up the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, causing water to pool. Heavy rain last week added to the flooding. But early this week, the weather was dry and sunny - at least for a few days - allowing more crews to switch from water pumping to searching.
"A lot of logjam areas, that's where we're finding human remains," search effort division supervisor Steve Harris said on Tuesday.
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This satellite image provided by Skybox Imaging and captured by SkySat-1 on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 12:19 p.m. PDT shows the area of the mudslide in Oso, Wash. More than 10 days after a large section of a rain-soaked hill crashed down on a neighborhood in the small community of Oso, teams with cadaver dogs are still sifting through debris and soil to determine exactly how many people died in the March 22 mudslide. (AP Photo/Skybox Imaging) MANDATORY CREDIT