Three days after a deadly mudslide took the lives of at least 14 people in the northwestern Washington town of Oso, family members and neighbors will band together again Tuesday to comb through the wreckage any way they can in hopes of finding survivors. But emergency workers fear they'll find nothing but bad news among the disaster.
"We're expecting that number to go up throughout the day," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said Tuesday, referring to the death toll.
Snohomish County Emergency Management announced Monday that the number of missing or unaccounted for had reached 176. But SCEM Director John Pennington told the media that authorities are almost certain the list includes many duplicate names.
"The 176, I believe very strongly is not a number we're going to see in fatalities. I believe it's going to drop dramatically," he said.
(MORE: The Faces of the Missing)
Officials said the debris flow was likely brought on by heavy rain which made the ground unstable. With 7.71 inches of rain already recorded for the month in Seattle, weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman said the area is less than an inch from setting a new March record for rainfall.
"More rain is in the forecast. While none of them will particularly strong or wet, four separate systems will bring rain to the Pacific Northwest over the next seven days," said Erdman. "Over two inches of total rain may fall over the next seven days from the four systems, combined."
Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning and flash flood watch for the mudslide area amid worries that water pooling upstream was causing minor flooding of homes and roads. Both advisories are in effect until at least 8 p.m. local time Tuesday night.
“It's safe to say I'll know everyone affected or who they are. There's so much pain going on in the community right now.”
Gail Moffett, retired firefighter
The number of those possibly missing grew dramatically from an estimated 108 earlier Monday. But Pennington said the list was compiled from information provided by the public, and officials were trying to cross off reports that likely described the same person. The list included construction workers who were working in the area and people just driving by.
The lack of definitive information two days after the massive slide destroyed a cluster of homes at the bottom of a river valley ratcheted up anxieties.
"The situation is very grim," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said, stressing that authorities are still in rescue mode and are holding out hope. But he noted: "We have not found anyone alive on this pile since Saturday."
Six more bodies were discovered Monday during search and rescue efforts in the neighborhood about 55 miles north of Seattle, according to a CBSNews.com report. Several others were critically injured by the slide.
About two dozen houses were flattened, and the debris blocked a mile-long stretch of state highway near Arlington.
Cory Kuntz and several volunteers worked Monday with chain saws to cut through the roof of his uncle's house, which was swept about 150 yards from its previous location. Kuntz said his aunt, Linda McPherson, was killed. He and the others pulled out files, his aunt's wallet and a box filled with pictures and slides.
"When you look at it, you just kind of go in shock, and you kind of go numb," he said, adding that there were more people out helping Sunday. On Monday, they couldn't get through roadblocks.
"They are all eager to get down here, but unfortunately they can't. It just shows how tight this community is," he said.
Doug Reuwsaat, who grew up in the area and was also helping in the search, said authorities had told people to stay away.
"We're related to a lot of these people from around here. So that's why we're here," he said.
The mudslide struck Saturday morning, a time when most people are at home. Of the 49 structures in the neighborhood, authorities believe at least 25 were full-time residences.
(PHOTOS: Scenes from the Mudslide)
Monday's search included aircraft, dogs and heavy equipment.
Frustrations were growing as family members and neighbors waited for official word on the missing and the dead. Elaine Young and her neighbors uncovered several bodies Sunday and had to contact authorities to get them removed.
They also found a chocolate Labrador named Buddy alive, and helped pull the dog from the rubble, leading her to wonder if other survivors could be out there, desperate for help.
"If we found a dog alive yesterday afternoon that we cut out of a part of a house, doesn't that seem that maybe somebody could be stuck up under part of a house and be alive too?" asked Young, whose home survived the slide but was on the edge of the devastation.
Authorities believe Saturday's slide was caused by recent heavy rains that made the terrain unstable.
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