Our day started out interestingly. At 4am, I could hear several snowplows working near our home. This is a normal sound but not after you've listened to a downpour of rain on your metal roof all night. We looked out and saw that there was a river where the road normally was. The pass was closed due to a natural avalanche, they were predicting major flooding in Snoqualmie Valley, and so on.
After a walk around the neighborhood to see the weather damage (the road was washed away), we stopped for coffee at our neighbors. While we were casually sipping coffee and talking, the Hyak ski hill completely slid away. It is hard to understand...what was once a ski hill covered in over 10 feet of snow (which we were skiing just two days ago) is now a mud slope. The slide knocked three steel chairlift poles out and carried them down the hill. Then it hit a couple slopeside houses, knocking one completely off of its foundation.
Everyone got out safe and unharmed but shocked. We are praying for all of you in the flood zone. Stay safe and as dry as possible.
We ski up this hill for exercise several times a week...hmmm.
The beer can -I mean, water tower- still stands.
Brandon walking across the debris pile.
House knocked off its foundation.
Norm was just sitting down in front of the fire when his house was hit.
The house was formerly attached to the garage.
I always thought I'd enjoy soaking in this hot tub...maybe not.
The WSDOT got some good pics that show the slide closer up, if you feel like looking at more of the recent drama up here at Rainqualmie Pass:
3 comments:
Glad to see that you guys are alright! It's been quite a winter so far.
Wow, stay safe Heather! We're thinking of you down here!
Katie Fletcher
Good to hear you guys are alright! Thanks for the pics and sorry about your hill. Maybe you could take up mud riding for skiing and turn it into something big. There is much work being done in trying to predict the spatial and temporal distributions of slides. Mostly for the purposes of saving lives etc... perhaps you guys could get in on it for locating the next “big one” to ride. I’m kind of jealous that I’m missing the chance to document all the of the landscape and riverine change going on out there right now... Houston is incredibly boring from a perspective of geomorphic change.
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