The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:
It took roughly two minutes for 18 million tons of clay, sand and till to envelop part of the Stillaguamish Valley on March 22, 2014, killing 43 people and burying an entire neighborhood. Even now, after almost a decade has passed since the Oso Landslide, the risks of a similar kind of disaster cannot be ignored.
Most members of Washington’s congressional delegation, led by Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, have wisely pursued and won federal funding since 2021 to help identify landslide hazards across the U.S. Money from the National Landslide Preparedness Act also aids in coordinating preparedness and response efforts between federal and local agencies and tribes.
But those funds dry up this year. Is such work no longer necessary?
You could make the argument that landslides are an inevitable phenomenon. Living in the Pacific Northwest and all its beauty comes with risks. To wit: Mount St. Helens’ eruption in 1980; the Nisqually quake in 2001; and the Oso slide in 2014. Slides kill between 25 and 50 people each year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In Washington, a slide last May on the highway to Mount St. Helens stranded visitors and has closed the Johnston Ridge Observatory until at least 2026. More recently, two separate landslides closed Amtrak and rail service south of Kelso.
But the federal and state efforts in recent years have gone to great lengths to prevent loss of life in a landslide. The state’s Department of Natural Resources used laser technology known as lidar to create the most intricate topographical maps ever made here, thanks to funding from the Legislature. The federal work, too, has maintained an inventory of landslide events. These tools could have helped identify risks at Oso and elsewhere before 2014.
Landslides may also become more prevalent in the future. Hotter, drier years due to climate change are likely to spark more fires in Washington, creating vast, bald landscapes prone to slides in heavy rains.
DelBene is spearheading the landslide act’s reauthorization through 2028. The original called for about $25 million annually for the U.S. Geological Survey work, with another $11 million for the National Science Foundation to conduct research. Congress should follow through with the funding.
“This bill will make crucial investments to further our understanding of landslides, improve our preparation for these natural disasters, and ultimately safeguard our communities,” said U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Sammamish, whose district includes Oso.
Investments in lidar and better education of the state’s residents so they know of the hazards that surround their homes are necessary. Congress should eagerly and swiftly pass the extension of the landslide preparedness act with bipartisan support. Failure to do so makes another tragedy, like the one in Snohomish County a decade ago, more likely.
