People visit the site of the Oso landslide on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Oso, Wash. The trauma that engulfed Oso, a rural community of a couple hundred residents, on March 22, 2014, was a national wake-up call about the dangers of landslides. Jessica Pzsonka made a promise -– to herself, to her bereft parents and to her late sister, who was buried along with two young sons, her husband and in-laws.
Congress in 2020 adopted the National Landslides Preparedness Act to create a national strategy to identify, understand and protect against landslides — legislation pushed by lawmakers from Washington state, including Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene. More than 500 mudslides were recorded in Los Angeles alone after torrential downpours early this year; another destroyed a home last week.
The tsunami of sodden earth and pulverized timber slammed into Steelhead Haven, a subdivision of 35 homes. The highway running alongside was buried 20 feet deep. Tim Ward lost his wife of 37 years, Brandy, and four of his five dogs. He described regaining consciousness 500 yards from where his house once stood, in a hole 15 feet deep, with an opening at the top the size of a kitchen saucer. Rescuers eventually pulled him out.