Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




DISASTER MANAGEMENT
US landslide death toll rises to 24
by Staff Writers
Arlington, United States (AFP) March 26, 2014


Rescuers digging through the debris of a monster US landslide found another 10 bodies Tuesday, officials said, bringing the death toll to 24 with potentially more than 170 still unaccounted for.

A day of rain hampered efforts to find survivors in the vast pile of mud and timber which crashed into the tiny town of Oso on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, we didn't find any signs of life," Snohomish County fire district chief Travis Hots told reporters, three days after the catastrophe in the northwestern US state of Washington.

He said two more bodies had been recovered, adding to the 14 corpses already brought out, while eight more were located in the debris

The number of reports of people unaccounted for remains at 176, although that could include double-counting and people who may turn up elsewhere, and so likely does not represent how many more fatalities may be found.

- 'We haven't lost hope' -

A total of 49 dwellings in the rural town were hit by the one square mile (2.5 square kilometer) wall of mud, rocks and trees, which also destroyed part of a highway some 60 miles (95 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.

Hots said the massive emergency operation was still aimed at rescuing survivors as well as recovering bodies, even though the chances of finding people alive diminish with each day.

"We haven't lost hope that there's a possibly that we can find someone," he said.

The National Guard joined local and state emergency workers after President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Washington state.

"I would just ask all Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to Washington state and the community of Oso and the families and friends of (the missing)," said Obama.

- Obama: 'tough situation' -

"We hope for the best, but we recognize that this is a tough situation," he added in the Netherlands, where he was attending a nuclear security summit.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will help "save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Snohomish County," said the White House.

Officials insist finding survivors is still possible, even there have been no signs of life since Saturday.

"I believe in miracles and I believe people can survive these events," said emergency management chief John Pennington, adding: "They've done it before, they can do it again."

One volunteer firefighter described the landslide as "quicksand, where you could easily sink up to your armpits."

He described seeing signs of structures peeking through a dense layer of fallen timber and earth, adding that it had blocked the Stillaguamish river, which had started to flood the Darrington area.

- 'Increasingly unstable' -

"The rising river and floodwaters are making the slide areas nearest the banks increasingly unstable," the emergency worker, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP.

New help Tuesday included over 60 National Guardsmen, and up to 100 volunteers, officials said.

Washington state governor Jay Inslee paid tribute to all the emergency services helping the rescue effort, from local to federal.

- 'Small-town, can-do spirit' -

"There's a small town, can-do spirit here at work. It's good to have the White House as well," he said.

"We know we still have families in tremendous grief and anxiety, and we're going to do everything we can to relieve that as soon as humanly possible," he added.

The local fire chief said the rescue and recovery operation would be a long one, but pledged to try to find every last victim.

"This is going to be a very long-term event. This will be something that goes into the weeks," said Hots, adding: "We're going to do our very best to get everybody out of there."

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Up to 18 unaccounted for in deadly US landslide
Los Angeles (AFP) March 24, 2014
Up to 18 people were unaccounted for more than 24 hours after a massive landslide slammed into a mountainside community killing four in the northwestern United States, officials said Sunday. Eight people were injured, including a six-month-old infant, when mud, water and rock smashed into the rural town of Oso, northeast of Seattle, on Saturday, police and firefighters said. Six homes and mu ... read more


DISASTER MANAGEMENT
108 reported unaccounted for in US landslide

Fukushima operator restarts water decontamination system

Up to 18 unaccounted for in deadly US landslide

Safety lapses rapped after US nuclear plant fire

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Cisco pushes into 'cloud' with $1 bn investment

Recovering valuable substances from wastewater

Shock-absorbing 'goo' discovered in bone

Getting rid of bad vibrations

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Lots of carbon dioxide equivalents from aquatic environments

World Bank approves $73 mn for DR Congo hydro project

World faces 'water-energy' crisis: UN

Deep Ocean Current May Slow Due to Climate Change

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Permafrost Thaw Exacerbates Climate Change

Ancient Indonesian climate shift linked to glacial cycle

Braving perilous Drake Passage to Brazil's Antarctic base

Dust in the wind drove iron fertilization during ice age

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Stanford professor maps by-catch as unintended consequence of global fisheries

Ancient clam gardens nurture food security

Research reveals true value of cover crops to farmers, environment

Study examines pesticide poisoning of Africa's wildlife

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Ground-improvement methods might protect against earthquakes

Off-rift volcanoes explained

Strong quake strikes off Chile

Earthquakes Caused by Clogged Magma a Warning Sign of Eruption

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Chinese nationals held in Nigeria for illegal fishing

Peacekeepers seize large weapons cache in C. Africa

French kill jihadist commander in Mali

What sculpted Africa's margin?

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Eyes are windows to the soul -- and evolution

New stratigraphic research makes Little Foot the oldest complete Australopithecus

Stirring the simmering 'designer baby' pot

Empathy chimpanzees offer is key to understanding human engagement




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.