RE: OT: My hometown is dying

I thought of you and several other people who live or lived in the Arlington area when I first heard the news.
unimaginable and not getting any better news and information wise.


Susan Allen
Kill them with kindness. Unless you have a gun."


----Original Message----
From: "Maida 'Mac' Combs" <maida.mac@gmail.com>
Sent: Mon, Mar 24, 2014 3:14 PM
To: tamson-house@googlegroups.com
Subject: OT: My hometown is dying

I haven't posted on mailing lists because I have been thinking far too hard
about what's going on and refreshing constantly online. I have been talking
about this on Facebook though, and want to pull in more people who might
pray for the people of my hometown(s), if you are so inclined. Yes, I am
agnostic. That doesn't mean that I can't hope and pray.

Some of you, even outside the country, may have heard of the "Oso Mudslide"
on State Road 530 Saturday morning, in Washington State. Oso is not
actually a town, just a wide spot in the road. The slide happened between
Arlington, where I graduated from high school, and Darrington, where I grew
up and my family lives. It was between mile marker 37 and 38. I lived at
MP39 for years in my 20s. There is over a square mile under mud and debris,
some places 20 or maybe even 50 feet deep.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140324/NEWS01/140329492/Dozens-may-be-missing

Follow some of the links there. The pictures are devastating. I can't
imagine the reality.

https://twitter.com/wsdot/status/448201349277044737/photo/1
http://www.heraldnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DH&Date=20140322&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=323009999&Ref=PH

There is currently a state geologist speaking on the situation and some
other analysis. I can post that later for the geological geeks, like Rick.

For those geographically inclined, here is a map of the slide:
http://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13994

The former town librarian, a well-loved and known figure and mother of a
classmate, has already been announced to be among the deceased. She was the
only person that I knew for certain before Saturday would be in the area.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140323/NEWS01/140329511/Slide-victim-was-well-known-as-Darrington-librarian-school-board-member-

When I went to bed last night, the death toll was 8 dead and 18-23 missing.
Today, the county has finally compiled lists of those reported missing.
They have *108* reports of individuals that are unaccounted for. Some of
those are very vague and the number will drop, likely drastically, as those
unaccounted check in, but it's a very scary situation.

Various members of my family are on the frontline, as well as helping out
at the fire department and the community center in Darrington.

As I posted on Facebook before this morning's announcement:

Those of you who pray, please pray for the families of those missing from
Arlington and Darrington in the SR530 mudslide.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023211644_mudsliderelativesxml.html

A childhood friend's father is missing and it is known that he was on
Steelhead Drive, the main area affected. My friend Joe's daughter is
missing, along with her fiance and maternal grandparents. Their house was
in the direct path of the worst part of the slide.

My heart's breaking.

--
Maida 'Mac/Lys' Combs

"I think maybe we started to forget when we stopped looking up. Instead of
remembering there was a world of sky up there above our heads, we'd sit on
the ground and look at our feet."
- Jack Daw in Charles de Lint's Someplace to be Flying

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