Rain brings another slide

  • By Eric Stevick and Noah Haglund Herald Writers
  • Wednesday, March 16, 2011 12:01am
  • Local News

EDMONDS — Rich Lord first heard a low rumble before the trees began skidding around him.

Around 7 p.m. Monday, he walked to the front of his two-story home and looked out to see big branches falling over his driveway on Norma Beach Road north of Edmonds.

One narrowly missed his car.

“I’m dead,” Lord thought to himself before yelling to his dog, Toby, “Let’s get out of here.”

Toby wouldn’t budge so Lord, 63, lifted the 130-pound flat coat retriever into the PT Cruiser.

“I’ve got to get the heck out of here,” he told himself.

Lord’s home was heavily damaged by a mudslide that sent trees and brush crashing through his roof. A retaining wall softened the blow but was broken in several spots. His wife, Pat, was not home when the mud hit.

The slide at Lord’s house was one of several problems brought on by an onslaught of wet weather. In just two weeks, enough rain has fallen to rival a typical full month of March. Numerous landslides have stopped passenger trains between Everett and Seattle. The rail line is expected to be shut down through Friday morning.

The weather from Sunday to Tuesday left Burlington Northern Santa Fe crews with the job of cleaning up 37 different landslides in Western Washington — 95 percent of them between Seattle and Everett.

“It’s due to excessive rainfall, week after week,” BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said.

The largest slide hit south of Everett, dumping earth 10 feet deep along a 60-foot stretch of track, Melonas said. Crews expected to finish cleanup there, and at other spots, by Tuesday evening.

This season has been BNSF’s worst in terms of number of slides during the past 15 years, though other years have seen larger slides.

State geologists have been trying to get a better understanding on the amount of rain that triggers landslides. They’re hoping to start a warning system with the National Weather Service.

It appears that about 2.5 inches of rainfall during a week increases the risk, state Department of Natural Resources landslide geologist Isabelle Sarikhan said. That’s less than the 3.5 inches the Weather Service recorded at Paine Field in the seven days ending Tuesday.

“The bluffs are usually the first to start failing, just because they’re more unstable,” Sarikhan said.

The DNR relies on residents to report slides. Most of the reports in Snohomish County this winter have been north of downtown Mukilteo.

Before Monday, Lord had been monitoring the hillside behind his house, fearing the heavy rains that saturated the soil could bring trouble. The night before, his dogs seemed uneasy and insisted on going out much more often than they usually do.

It will be a few days before the Lords know the extent and cost of the repairs.

County officials said the slide was on private property, so the repairs will be up to them. The county’s deputy fire marshal posted the Lords’ house as not inhabitable, though it could, potentially, be repaired.

Lord and his wife urged county officials to check homes on the hill above them.

“We were worried about the people around us,” he said. “This isn’t a game. You could die in this stuff.”

Snohomish County Fire District 1 crews were on the scene of the mudslide Monday night. In a report, a battalion chief described hearing the hillside moving and trees cracking.

They made sure that water and electricity were turned off.

The Lords spent Monday night sleeping on couches in the Champions Real Estate office in Lynnwood they own.

In the daylight Tuesday, Rich Lord could see a huge gash in the hill behind his house.

He also could see the gouges that branches made to his roof and breaking through to his wife’s closet.

“We are going to get it fixed up,” he said. “But it’s going to take quite a while.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.

Report a slide

To report a landslide to the state Department of Natural Resources, including digital pictures, e-mail DNR_GEO_landslide@sharepoint.dis.wa.gov. For more information go to http://www.dnr.wa.gov and search for “report a landslide.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Snohomish County prosecutor Kara Van Slyck delivers closing statement during the trial of Christian Sayre at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Jury deliberations begin in the fourth trial of former Everett bar owner

Jury members deliberated for about 2 hours before Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Millie Judge sent them home until Monday.

Christian Sayre sits in the courtroom before the start of jury selection on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Christian Sayre timeline

FEBRUARY 2020 A woman reports a sexual assault by Sayre. Her sexual… Continue reading

Craig Skotdal makes a speech after winning on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Tulalip, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Craig Skotdal: Helping to breathe life into downtown Everett

Skotdal is the recipient of the John M. Fluke Sr. award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County

Paine Field Community Day returns Saturday, May 17

The youth-focused celebration will feature aircraft displays, talks with pilots and a variety of local food vendors.

FILE — Jet fuselages at Boeing’s fabrication site in Everett, Wash., Sept. 28, 2022. Some recently manufactured Boeing and Airbus jets have components made from titanium that was sold using fake documentation verifying the material’s authenticity, according to a supplier for the plane makers. (Jovelle Tamayo/The New York Times)
Boeing adding new space in Everett despite worker reduction

Boeing is expanding the amount of space it occupies in… Continue reading

Kyle Parker paddles his canoe along the Snohomish River next to Langus Riverfront Park on Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Tip to Tip: Kyle Parker begins his canoe journey across the country

The 24-year-old canoe fanatic started in Neah Bay and is making his way up the Skykomish River.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Kamiak High School is pictured Friday, July 8, 2022, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo police respond to stabbing at Kamiak High School

One juvenile was taken into custody in connection with Friday’s incident. A victim was treated at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.