Mudslide leaves 100 people in Hoquiam neighborhood isolated
Jan 6, 2015, 1:57 PM | Updated: Jan 7, 2015, 5:53 am
Residents of Hoquiam’s Beacon Hill neighborhood say they’re doing the best they can after a mudslide cut them off from the rest of the city.
City officials say it could be three or four days before Beacon Hill Drive is reopened. For now, the only way in and out of the area is through a winding logging road that residents can use at designated times of day with an escort.
“I don’t know when I’m going to be able to get out of here,” Jeff Rockwell told KIRO Radio’s Brandi Kruse. “I’ve looked at some alternatives, like just walking down and finding a way down the hill.”
Rockwell lives in an apartment that was just feet from being swept away in the slide Monday.
“It was close,” he said. “I’m staying in my apartment right now. I feel reasonably safe, but it’s definitely unnerving.”
Two houses are perched on the edge of the mudslide hundreds of feet in the air and city officials said they could be in danger of falling.
“There’s definitely a risk that these two homes in this vicinity and probably in the area where the other slide was up here on the hill still could slide further,” said Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay.
He said they’re worried about more rain expected this weekend.
Orlando Howell, the city’s building official, lives across the street from the two homes.
“I was not aware that it was this dangerous,” Howell said.
Howell’s wife Julia helped their neighbor escape her home sitting on the edge of the bluff. She said it’s a really weird way to get to know the people around you.
“Everyone is concerned about each other on this block. It’s special,” she said.
About 40,000 cubic yards of dirt need to be removed from Beacon Hill Drive, according to Shay. If the road is completely gone, they’ll have to rely on the logging road while plans are made to rebuild.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service says there remains a risk of additional landslides following heavy rains on Sunday and Monday. That risk will gradually diminish over the next couple of days.
KIRO Radio’s Brandi Kruse contributed to this report.
