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Friday, January 6, 2006
Heavy rains raise fear of damaging landslides
Two weeks of storms expected
A report issued this week by the U.S. Geological Survey saying that the Seattle area had reached the "precipitation threshold for landslides" caused by record rainfall over the past couple of weeks has city officials on high alert.
In past years, increased precipitation in the winter and spring months in Seattle has meant a greater likelihood for mudslides.
Heavier-than-average rainfall is expected throughout the region over the next two weeks, said Brent Bower, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, 0.81 inches of rain had already fallen at the weather service's Seattle offices on Sand Point Way, breaking the previous record for that day of 0.75 inches.
Crews are on standby to clear bridges and roadways in case of mudslides, said Patrice Gillespie Smith, chief of staff of the Seattle Department of Transportation.
Karen White, co-compliance director of the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, said that structural and geotechnical engineers are on call if mudslides damage homes or apartment buildings.
And workers are monitoring drain and sewer lines to make sure they don't back up in landslide-prone areas, said Laurel Harrington, a facilities manager for Seattle Public Utilities.
In 2001 mudslides destroyed property on West Galer Street in Magnolia.
Two years before that, various sites in that neighborhood, including the onramp to the Magnolia Bridge at West Garfield Street and 14th Avenue West, were closed because of slides.
There have been no significant mudslides yet this season in Seattle and few throughout the region.
A small slide was reported in Kirkland late last month.
Bower said mudslides, in which moisture in the soil reaches an overload point and causes a liquid-like mass to move downhill, are more common in the region than landslides, which are more solid than mudslides and can be deeper and usually move slower.
WHOM TO CALL
HOW TO PREPARE
Tips to help avoid flooding and mudslides:
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