Oso Landslide Disaster: condolences, and how to help
On Saturday, March 22, 2014, at 10:37 a.m., a major mudslide occurred 4 miles east of Oso, Washington, in the foothills of the North Cascades. A portion of an unstable hillside collapsed, sending mud and debris across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River and onto the adjacent river valley, covering an area of approximately 1 square mile. As of April 2, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office has confirmed that 30 people have died, 27 of whom have been identified, and 15 people remain missing or unaccounted for as a result of the landslide. Excluding landslides caused by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or dam collapses, this is the deadliest single landslide event in United States history.
North Cascades Institute sends our deepest condolences to everyone who has been effected by this disaster, including the family of Linda McPherson, retired branch manager of the Darrington Library, longtime Darrington School Board member and a frequent student of North Cascades Institute’s art classes with Molly Hashimoto. Here’s a brief remembrance of Linda from Molly: http://bit.ly/PxMLFv. Here is a remembrance of this amazing woman in the Everett Herald: http://bit.ly/1fH1CHz.
Ways to give directly to the families effected by the slide:
- In person at any branch of Coastal Community Bank
- Online at www.coastalbank.com
- By check mailed to Coastal Community Bank, P.O. Box 90, Darrington, WA 98241 (North Counties Family Services Relief fund acct).
- By online banking as a deposit to Coastal Community Bank REF account ending in 2246; or to North Counties Family Services Relief Fund account ending in 3038.
Ways to give to organizations that are supporting the local community and families:
- Darrington Family Support and Resource Center: PO Box 2629 Darrington WA 98241 (Providing support for families in need from gas money to clothing to assistance finding housing, etc.)
- Darrington Community Center, PO Box 263 Darrington, WA 98241 (Feeding the volunteers and providing funeral dinners.)
- KING 5 is partnering with Red Cross to support the community. Donations can be given to Northwest Response: Landslide Relief at any U.S. Bank Branch or online at http://www.redcross.org/cm/kingnwcn-pub
If you know of other ways in which our community can support local relief efforts, please leave ideas and links in the comments.
Thanks Christian for this article. Linda was a dear friend, colleague and mentor to me-we worked alongside each other in our library system-Sno-Isle Libraries. Memorial donations can also be made in Linda’s name to the Friends of the Darrington Library, PO Box 25, Darrington, WA 98241. A tribute to Linda and what Sno-Isle is doing is include at:
http://blog.sno-isle.org/stories/. We had planned to do a class together sometime this year and know how much she enjoyed North Cascades Institute and Molly’s classes. Sincerely, Leslie Franzen