Features Apr 2, 2014 at 4:00 am

A Very Tiny Town Grapples with One of the Deadliest Disasters in State History

photos by kelly o

Comments

1
I got as far as the second paragraph before I realized that people who report on things as a hobby, as opposed to as their job, know how to be better prepared for the weather than you two.
2
Take, for instance, the occupy livestream team. They kept their equipment running for hours in the rain using saran wrap and plastic bags. Use your heads, guys. This isn't even worth the click it took me to get here. I've never been happier to be an indiscriminate user of Adblock+.
3
@1: So much for setting the scene, right? If you would have continued further, you may have enjoyed the story.
4
Eli, not to worry: No one else from The Stranger is going to win a Pulitzer any time soon.
5
OSO SMASH!!!!

(Sorry. The whole mess is terrible. Just couldn't resist.)
6
Thanks for your work on this Charles, lack of umbrellas aside (I don't like them either but sometimes you gotta)
7
Excellent piece Charles thank you
8
Don't forget about the Wellington Disaster. I think it still holds the record for Washington's worst.

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?Dis…
9
@3 "If you would have continued further, you may have enjoyed the story."

And that's all it would have been. A story. Because it sure as hell wasn't written by reporters.
10
@9 you're nuts. It's actually a well written piece about the impact of the slide on the humanity in Oso. As far as gear goes, one can't be prepared for everything. Sometimes reporters can't tell when it's going to rain, ya know?
11
Hey Charles-- I just bought a 20 acre farm in Oso and if you have to question why people live there, you are fucked in the head. Place is full of bobcats, bald eagles and coyotes. It is gorgeous there. Thanks for writing a depressing story about it-- hope it keeps hipster assholes from moving in.
12
The Great Tye Slide (I refuse to let Great Northern succeed in disassociating the two) is indeed worse than anything else the state has been hit with since the First Nations had to endure the 1700 megathrust earthquake and resulting tsunami. I would REALLY like an official memorial to that... Before any memorial to Oso. And I'm FROM the north fork of the Stilly.

But not only do even in Washington native issues deserve more attention, the simple fact is, I'm studying engineering these days and ... When the Cascadia Earthquake happens again, if it occurs in spring there will be a thousand Oso slides all over BC, Washington, and Oregon. That's just how we live. And some will be in cities and suburban areas.

Oso will get better, but we need to use it to think ahead.
13
It really is sad how Washington State's wishy-washy logging policies are largely to blame for the causing of such a disastrous mudslide! I'm fairly confident that the local people of the community predicted that this would happen and voiced concerns, but Big Business only saw "record profits", so it happened anyway, despite warnings of the calculated dangerous risks and any local opposition. Raze all the trees, and the rainwater has nowhere else to go but down the slope, demolishing anything in its path. Clearcutting should be banned! Such a destructive practice benefits Big Timber only, and the community that is left behind after all the massive clearing away suffers mightily afterward. It will take a long time for Oso to heal from this harsh example of manmade climate-altered corporate greed.

Common sense doesn't seem to be so common, anymore, especially when corporations have more say than actual taxpaying citizens and voters these days.
14
Thanks.
15
All opinions get consideration. The result is negation and nonsense. Keep screaming drones!
16
>The Great Tye Slide (I refuse to let Great Northern succeed in disassociating the two) is indeed worse than anything else the state has been hit with since the First Nations had to endure the 1700 megathrust earthquake and resulting tsunami. I would REALLY like an official memorial to that... Before any memorial to Oso. And I'm FROM the north fork of the Stilly.

Uh... what?

One of the many reasons people born in the metro area look at you outskirts people funny so often... the hell is this about
17
Liked the article but in case someone else has not mentioned there is a restaurant that does serve alcohol in Oso. It is the Rhodes River Ranch.

Please wait...

and remember to be decent to everyone
all of the time.

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