UPDATE 2:50 p.m.: A 6-month-old baby boy is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said a hospital spokeswoman. Three other patients are there and one more is on the way.
UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: One patient has been treated and released from the Cascade Valley Hospital; four others remain. Jennifer Egger, community-relations coordinator for the hospital, said an emergency shelter has been opened at Post Middle School in Arlington. Chaplains are on standby to offer patient comfort and support.
UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: At least two people have been confirmed dead in the mudslide east of Arlington, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Lt. Rodney Rochon, head of special operations for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, said at least six houses were totally destroyed. Authorities are unsure how many more were affected.
He said a 6-month-old baby was airlifted from the scene to Harborview Medical Center. Three or four others sent to area hospitals. Over 100 rescuers looking for other people who may have been inside the houses. One of the rescue teams had to be rescued after they got stuck in the mud.
Rochon described the mudslide as at least 40 yards wide and 100 yards from top to bottom The six houses were destroyed on the south side of the rivers. Authorities are still trying to get to the north side of the river to assess the damage.
Rochon said there is still concerned about water flow in the river, which is backed up by debris.
It will take “easily a week” to unblock the river, according to Rochon. He said need to first complete the rescue operations and do a broader search before they can bring in heavier equipment.
“I haven’t seen anything like this,” he said. What remains from the houses, is “not good even for construction material.”
UPDATE 2:25 p.m.: Harborview Medical Center confirms they have received patients from the mudslide, at least one in critical condition, said Susan Gregg, hospital spokeswoman.
UPDATE 2:15 p.m.: “I came within about 50 feet of being washed out,” said Paulo Falco of Lynnwood, who was driving on Highway 530 when the slide it.
“It happened right in front of me. I was behind a truck pulling a boat, and then it hit. In three seconds, everything got washed away. Darkness covering the whole roadway and one house right in the middle of the street.”
He heard a woman screaming from one of the homes.
“Along the river, I saw one place where there were two homes and they were just gone. Nothing left but a portable toilet . . . Destruction all over. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
Falco was on his way to pick up his children who live in Darrington with their mother. He routinely comes up and picks them up for the weekend.
Snohomish County has been saturated with rain this month, establishing the kind of unstable terrain that can lead to mudslides, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The weather service doesn’t keep statistics for the tiny town of Oso, but it does for Arlington, which is about 12 miles southwest. As of March 19 – the last day for which the weather service has a report — Arlington had recorded 7.14 inches of rain for the month. That’s just two inches shy of the wettest March on record for Arlington, and that total, of 9.23 inches, was for the entire month.
Darrington, another city not far from Oso, received close to an inch of rain on Wednesday alone, Burg said.
UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: Homes near the slide area are being evacuated as emergency workers are concerned that the river water backed up above by the slide may spill around it, potentially affecting a much larger area. Law-enforcement officers are going door-to-door in the area to evacuate residents. Emergency workers are also using the reverse 911 phone system to alert people along the highway from the slide area to the town of Arlington, about 14 miles.
UPDATE 1:30 p.m.
Cascade Valley Hospital has received four patients, but the severity of the injuries were not disclosed.
UPDATE 12:50 p.m.
Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington has been alerted at least 15 homes may have been wiped out in the slide. No injuries have been reported to the hospital at this time, but officials are encouraging people to bring blankets, clothing and food to the hospital to be ready.
A mudslide, carrying at least one house with people inside, is blocking Highway 530 near Oso, in Snohomish County.
According to State Trooper Mark Francis at least one house is in the slide, which occurred mid-morning, and someone was calling for help.
The trooper said more people may be trapped, and search and rescue crews are headed there.
“The first responders have to do what they do best and they take priority,” said Bart Treece of the Washington State Department of Transportation
