DARRINGTON, Wash. - The number of those thought missing after a deadly Washington state landslide has plummeted to 30 after many people were found safe, authorities said late Saturday.
Officials previously set the number of missing people at 90 but said they expected that figure to drop as they worked to find people and cross-referenced a list that included partial reports and duplicates.
The confirmed death toll rose by one, to 18, Jason Biermann, program manager at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, said at a Saturday briefing. The search for victims, using heavy equipment, dogs and bare hands, was going “all the way to the dirt,” searchers said, as crews looked for anything to provide answers for family and friends a week after a small community in Oso was destroyed.
All work on the debris field halted briefly Saturday for a moment of silence to honor those lost. Gov. Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m. The huge slide destroyed the neighborhood in Oso at that time March 22.
“People all over stopped work - all searchers - in honor of that moment, so people we are searching for know we are serious,” Snohomish County Fire District 1 Battalion Chief Steve Mason said.
An American flag had been run up a tree and then down to half-staff at the debris site, he said.
Among the dozens of missing are a man in his early 20s, Adam Farnes, and his mother, Julie.
“He was a giant man with a giant laugh,” Kellie Howe said of Adam Farnes. Howe became friends with him when he moved to the area from Alaska. She said Adam Farnes was the kind of guy who would come into someone’s house and helpdo the dishes.
“They still have not found him or his mom. They’re going through a hard time right now,” she said.
Finding and identifying all the victims could stretch on for a long time, and authorities have warned that not everyone might ultimately be accounted for after one of the deadliest landslides in U.S. history.
Rescuers have given a cursory look at the entire debris field 55 miles northeast of Seattle, said Steve Harris, division supervisor for the eastern Incident Management Team. They are now sifting the rest of the fragments, looking for places where dogs should give extra attention. Only “a very small percentage” has received the more thorough examination, he said.
Dogs working four-hour shifts have been the most useful tool, Harris said, but they’re getting hypothermic in the rain and muck.
Commanders are making sure people have the right gear to stay safe in the rain and potentially hazardous materials, and they’re keeping a close eye on the river level to ensure no one is trapped by rising water, he said.
At the debris site Saturday, Mason said teams first do a hasty search of any wreckage of homes they find. If nothing is immediately discovered, they do a more detailed, forensic search.
“We go all the way to the dirt,” he said.
The huge wall of earth crashed into the mountainside community after weeks of heavy rain.
Previous slides triggered by storms included one that killed 150 people in Virginia in the wake of Hurricane Camille in 1969 and another that killed 129 when rain from Tropical Storm Isabel loosened tons of mud that buried the Puerto Rican community of Mameyes in 1985.
Information for this article was contributed by Elaine Thompson and Phuong Le of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/30/2014