At least twenty-four people have died when a massive mudslide buried their homes in Oso, Washington. The death toll could go higher as up to 176 people were reported missing among the crumpled homes and tons of mud in Snohomish County.
Officials say that the chance of finding survivors is small. The collapse follows weeks of rain. In spite of the fact that multiple geological reports had warned that the area was at risk, and after weeks of rain, officials still described the disaster as “completely unforeseen.” One report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, warned of ‘the potential for a large catastrophic failure.”
A small earthquake measuring a magnitude 1.1, had struck behind the slide area 12 days before the disaster, perhaps weakening the geological structure. There had also been a previous small slide.
The approximately 50 homes destroyed were on the opposite side of the Stillaguamish River from the slide. Residents did not expect that a slide would cross the river and fill up the one-square mile in the valley and bury them.
Rescue and recovery efforts were slowed by continued rain.
“As I hear of the terrible calamities that from week to week are taking place, I ask myself: What do these things mean? The most awful disasters are following one another in quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God’s purpose may be read. They are one of the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, page 252