11 people, dog rescued at Mount St. Helens after mudslide blocks road

Eleven people and a dog were evacuated by helicopter after a mudslide blocked the road to and from Mount St. Helens overnight.

The mudslide on State Route 504 happened around 9 p.m. Sunday near Coldwater Lake, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). There is no estimated time for when the road might reopen.

There is a conflict in the number of people rescued. KIRO Newsradio is reporting 11, while some agencies are saying 12.

“Troopers got on scene and assess the damage which was pretty significant,” said Trooper Dakota Russel with the Washington State Patrol (WSP). “Several people were trapped on the other side of the slide. Skamania County was in charge of the rescue mission.”

Russel reported there were no injuries and everyone made it out safe.

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“It was deemed a successful rescue operation,” National Forest Service spokesperson Gala Miller told KIRO 7 News. “They had to leave their vehicles behind.”

People were stranded overnight on the far side of the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

At 10:55 a.m. Monday, King County Sheriff’s Office Air Support tweeted that the mission to evacuate those who were stranded had just wrapped up.

WSDOT crews are assessing the size of the slide.

Just wrapped up a mission at Mt St Helen’s. A mudslide wiped out the bridge to the observatory last night. We were able to evacuate 12 people and a dog. pic.twitter.com/HKv7G38oRM

— KCSOAirsupport (@KCSOAirsupport) May 15, 2023

KIRO 7 contributed to this story