Rescue crews have shifted their focus to recovery in a search for three victims who remain missing in a landslide in the remote southeast Alaska town of Wrangell that killed three. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Efforts to recover more victims of a landslide that killed three people in a rural southeast Alaska community are moving from an "active" to a "reactive" search, rescue officials said.
Rescuers found the remains of two adults and a girl who were killed Monday night when trees and debris broke loose and careened down the side of a wooded mountain in Wrangell, a former logging town of about 2,000 people in the Tongass National Forest, 800 miles north of Seattle, and accessible only by plane or boat.
Three people, believed to be an adult and two children, are still missing, officials said. One woman, who sustained only minor injuries, was pulled from the wreckage left in the path of the 450 foot wide landslide about 11 miles outside town on the Zimovia Highway.
"After three separate active search efforts, including aerial searching with drones, helicopters, and planes; ground teams with K9 scent detection dogs and trained professionals; and water-based searching with K9 teams and sonar, search teams have reached all areas accessible without the use of heavy machinery," the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a news release Thursday.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for Wrangell, and made state resources available to aid in search and rescue efforts. The state transportation department has shipped excavation equipment to the site to begin clearing the roadway of debris in the search for the three missing victims who officials believe may still be buried in the slide area.
State authorities said if there is evidence that the victims are in a specific area, they will restart an active search rather than remain in recovery mode.
"While the active search is concluding, it remains a priority of the State of Alaska and your Alaska State Troopers to locate the three missing Alaskans so that we can bring closure to their families and the community," a release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety said. "Our deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and loved ones of the three deceased and three missing Alaskans."
Residents who live in the immediate vicinity of the slide have been evacuated to a hotel in town and people who live further out the highway, beyond the slide area, have been without power since Monday night. There was no estimate Thursday night on when that might be restored.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety said a young girl was found dead during initial search and rescue efforts on Monday and the remains of two others were located by a drone operator on Tuesday.
Public safety officials said they plan to release the names of the people who died and remain missing on Friday.
The airport in the town, which is typically rainy anyway, reported receiving three inches of rain in the 24 hours prior to the landslide, which made the ground even softer than it had already been. The rain, and wind gusts of between 61 and 87 miles per hour, were likely contributing factors in the start of the landslide, officials said.
A geologist with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys said this part of Alaska is already susceptible to landslides given the geological makeup of the region, and that heavy rainfall, rapid snow melt at higher elevations and saturated soil only increase the risk of deadly slides.
More rain is forecast through the weekend which will make conditions less than ideal for recovery efforts, state officials and weather experts said.
