Report: Mount Rainier is about to get upgraded

Mount Rainier has sensors focused on detecting when a mudslide occurs on the mountain, or other land movement. It helps emergency officials warn locals that a mudflow could be heading their way.

But those sensors were installed in the 1990s. As technology has advanced since then, Mount Rainier is getting an upgrade.

The Seattle Times reports that Mount Rainier mudslide tech is getting revamped. It’s a massive system covering the mountain. The main issue is that the sensors run on an analog system. The new mudslide detection system will be digital. Of most concern is mudflows, which are massive movements of water, soil and other material that can travel miles.

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Scott Heinze, deputy director of Pierce County’s emergency-management department, told the Times that “we’re in the window,” for a massive slide. That window is about every 500-1,000 years. If a modern mudflow occurred, emergency services could determine the best escape routes for local communities with the new tech.

Communities such as Fife, Orting, Puyallup and Sumner, which mudflows could reach during an event, the Times notes. The Times further points out that one such major mudflow happened more than 5,000 years ago. The result was a massive change to the landscape on the east side of the mountain, changing the flow of the White River, and filling in 300-foot valleys where Sumner, Auburn and Enumclaw currently are located.

On the west side, today, a mudflow could reach and cover a portion of I-5.

With new digital tech, officials could detect vibrations and movement on the mountain up to 24 hours in advance of potential slides.

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