SHE'S A POWERFUL FORCE -- NATURAL DISASTERS

[HairOfTheDog]

Mother Nature...

She struck Oso, Washington hard. Oso is about 55 minutes from Seattle. It's a small rural logging town.

A massive mudslide killed at least 16 people, 49 houses were destroyed, and 156 workers and 50 National Guard searchers are into the 5^th day of recovery efforts -- attempting to find the remains of up to 176 missing residents buried beneath the mud and debris. Most of the missing and presumed dead are from families who've lived in the area for generations.



The accounts of survivors are eerie and sad. They heard a very loud roar and by the time they looked around, they were hit by the slide which was traveling up to 100 miles an hour.

911 Calls:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014...-mudslide/

Refs:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2...ayxml.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25...31974.html

[sally]

That's crazy. Can you imagine just sitting in your chair drinking coffee and all of the sudden what looks and sounds like the end of the world is coming straight towards you.

[Duchess]

It's so sad. The rescuers heard cries for help the first day but couldn't get to them and now all is silent. I watched a woman last night whose husband is missing. He had gone to do some work that morning and hasn't been heard from since. She is still hopeful though :(

[Maggot]

Thats horrible! You cannot just shovel that stuff up and a backhoe does no good. How the heck do you move it? Hose it down?

[HairOfTheDog]

The Seattle Times has published geological reports warning of massive landslide risks (dating back to 1999), but landslides are hard to predict and people kept building in the area.

There was some early speculation about a small earthquake prompting the slide, but that's essentially been dismissed by experts. They're trying to determine the cause, which could be heavy rains and lack of traction (since most of the trees on the mountain had been cut down by loggers, reportedly).



The landslide brought down something like three times the volume of mud as there is concrete in Hoover Dam in one momentous cascade.

One house that was hit by the slide was uprooted and ended up a quarter of a mile away.

Another was buried in mud and the neighbor called 911 to report that he could hear the residents, trapped and tapping, trying to break free.

Surreal.

[Duchess]

Some happiness for one family -

The Kuntz family faced massive losses caused by the disastrous mudslide in Washington State. Then, when it seemed that all was lost, they got a heartwarming surprise.

HLN reports that 'a family who really lost everything in that mudslide in Washington State was so thrilled to find their dog Buddy alive.'

The Kuntzes returned to their home in Darrington after attending their son's ball game to see the house 150 feet from its base. Quinton Kuntz tells KOMO he was in disbelief.

'We could've been gone.'

As volunteers were searching through the debris of the Kuntz home, they heard Buddy whining, and were able to pull him out.

'Covered in dirt and a few gashes, Buddy came through.'

As you just saw, the house was partially collapsed around the dog! Quinton tells KOMO he was surprised Buddy made it out all right.

'I'm just shocked at how well he did.'

This surprise lifted the spirits of the Kuntz family members, who lost their Aunt Linda McPherson to the horrible disaster. Buddy's survival also boosted hopes of other searchers.

'We just heard this morning that another dog got rescued, and so if they're still finding dogs alive why can't we be finding people alive?'

Source

[crash]

I hope they ^ don't have a son called Packer..

[Duchess]

Packer Kuntz.

[Carsman]

It's so sad. The rescuers heard cries for help the first day but couldn't get to them and now all is silent. I watched a woman last night whose husband is missing. He had gone to do some work that morning and hasn't been heard from since. She is still hopeful though :(

See Ms D, ifin they were "up" in a plane, they would have missed this freaky thing on the ground. Planes can be/are pretty safe.

[Carsman]

It's so sad. The rescuers heard cries for help the first day but couldn't get to them and now all is silent. I watched a woman last night whose husband is missing. He had gone to do some work that morning and hasn't been heard from since. She is still hopeful though :(

See Ms D, ifin they were "up" in a plane, they would have missed this freaky thing on the ground. Planes can be/are pretty safe.

Side thought, they better be, we're flying to KC MO in 3 weeks.

[HairOfTheDog]

One week after the landslide...



No one has been pulled alive from the rubble since the day the landslide hit, when at least eight people were injured but survived.

The remains of 18 people have now been recovered from beneath the mud and debris. The ME is having a difficult time because they were hit with such force that the bodies are not in tact -- dental records and DNA is being used to identify them. Authorities are warning that some bodies are likely buried so deep that they will never be found.

Fortunately, the number of missing and unaccounted for has dropped significantly (authorities expected it would as people who were away started turning up, people who no longer lived in the area were contacted and checked off the list, and duplicate references were reconciled). There are now 30 people on the list -- still so many -- but it was 176 a week ago.

One woman was babysitting her months old grand-daughter when the slide hit her house. The grandmother's body was found the day after the slide. Her daughter / the baby's mother participated in the search for her baby. They found the baby 4 days later about 10 feet from where her grandmother's body was recovered.

So many sad stories for families from the area.

A church memorial to honor the disaster victims will be held today.

Refs:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/29/us/washing...?hpt=hp_t2
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/3...R020140330
http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-finds-str...d=23113331

[crash]

I feel bad about the Packer joke now...:(

[ramseycat]

And I was moaning about totaling my car yesterday. Things could be much worse.

[crash]

Surely you know someone who can sort out the insurance for you..

[ramseycat]

I'm pretty sure I do.

[Carsman]

And I was moaning about totaling my car yesterday. Things could be much worse.

Luckily, it seems you were not hurt too seriously, or even not at all, so that's good.

[HairOfTheDog]

Saturday a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal, killing more than 2,200 people (that estimate is expected to rise). RIP.





Today an aftershock of 6.8 worsened the already terrible situation and made it even harder for rescue workers to access impacted areas of the country.

Snip:
Freelance photographer Omar Havana was in Kathmandu when the earthquake hit central Nepal.

“Everything started moving and my wife and I could [barely] stand,” Havana tells TIME. “I live in a six-floor house, so we ran downstairs as the building started to crack. It was very scary—people were running, shouting and crying. It was awful.”

With a death toll rising by the hour—this earthquake is Nepal’s worst in 81 years—Havana witnessed scenes of panic as people looked for safety in open spaces.

The Spanish photographer, who moved to Kathmandu seven months ago and is represented by Getty Images, also saw acts of humanity. “People are doing amazing work,” he said. “They’re doing everything they [can] to help each other.”

Havana has been documenting these scenes, filing images that show the extraordinary extent of the destruction and the astonishing solidarity in its wake. “I try to be as human as I can be but it’s hard not to be overwhelmed [by] what’s in front of my eyes: a hand appearing from the debris, a mother hold[ing] her baby. I’m just trying to tell the story of the people and the damage caused to the city.”

While shooting, Havana is also on the lookout for survivors, helping clear rubble. “I keep my eyes open, hoping I will see a person alive under the debris.”

Story and rescue photos: http://time.com/3835621/nepal-earthquake-pictures/

[Duchess]

I saw some pix yesterday, awful pix of their misery. People are buried up to their necks in debris, everyone coated in dust, so many sobbing in the streets.

[Donovan]

There are also a shitload of uber rich hikers stranded above the avalanches on everest, having had all their descent equipment swept away. So they're sitting there waiting to starve or freeze or somehow be rescued .

Here's my question, and I truly want to know: is it wrong of me not to feel terribly sorry about the plight those rich fucks find themselves in? Keep in mind I'm not talking about the Sherpas, who are essentially slave labor and frequently die unheralded thankless lives.

I'm talking about the self-indulgent bucketlisters who pay a minimum of 40 grand per person to shlep themselves across the world, follow guided mountainclimbing packages, make sherpas haul all their shit up the fucking mountain and back down, all so they can do a top-of-the-world selfie and post it to Facebook. Average Sherps pay for each trip? 32 bucks.

I hope every one of those spoiled rich fucks slowly starve and freeze to death on that stupid mountain, and tweet/post/instagram every step so guys like ESAD can find it and share it with me.

[Duchess]

Here's my question, and I truly want to know: is it wrong of me not to feel terribly sorry about the plight those rich fucks find themselves in?

No. I only say it like that because I rarely have compassion for that type of person, I usually reserve it for the downtrodden and those who are needy in some fashion, those that have no one else.