Road access for Whidbey Island slide victims likely Monday
Apr 1, 2013, 8:59 AM | Updated: 11:05 am
This March 27, 2013 photo provided by the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources, DNR geologist Stephen Slaughter surveys a damaged home near the bottom of a massive landslide that also isolated or threatened more than 30 others near Coupeville, Wash. Geologists and engineers are assessing what might happen next after a large landside thundered down the scenic island hillside overlooking Puget Sound. (AP Photo/Washington Dept. of Natural Resources)
(AP Photo/Washington Dept. of Natural Resources)
Sometime Monday, crews expect to finish cutting an emergency access road down to homes cut off by last week’s massive slide on Whidbey Island.
It’s a steep, temporary one-way road into the area south of Coupeville.
“This isn’t going to be a road for consistent use, so residents won’t be driving back and forth on this road, it’s mainly to get equipment down below and get the vehicles out from below,” said Eric Brooks, deputy director of Island County Emergency Management.
The steep, twisting pathway is about 300 yards long.
“What they’re doing is cutting back brush, putting down a lot of gravel and rolling the area in order to make it safe for vehicles to travel so hopefully by the end of today we’ll be able to bring some of those vehicles that have been stuck down below back up to the top,” said Brooks.
The access road will also allow utility crews from Puget Sound Energy to start the process of restoring electricity to the 17 homes isolated by the slide.
Thirty-five homes were initially evacuated after Wednesday’s slide. One home was destroyed and four homes are yellow tagged, meaning day-access only.
The slide, one of the largest in state history, pushed an 1,100 foot-long section of bluff on to the beach and into the water on the west side of Whidbey Island.
Dr. Scott Burns, a geologist with the University of Portland, said experts will be examining the land for the cause of the slide for quite some time.
Burns told Seattle’s Morning News, “This landslide is quite mystifying because it occurred when it was dry, it was not after a major rainfall event.”
Find more landslide news:
Landslide destroys one home; threatens more on Whidbey Island
Waiting weeks for answers on Whidbey Island landslide
How to insure your home if you live on a cliff
