Officials begin clearing debris while 3 people still missing in Alaska landslide that left 3 dead

Wrangell, Alaska (AP) — Searchers are searching for three people still missing afterward Massive landslide The accident, which killed three others and injured a fourth, has changed their strategy from conducting an active search to a reactive search that will involve systematically clearing the highway, officials said Thursday.

“During periods of active searches, we have searchers in the field thoroughly searching for missing persons,” Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press. “During reactive searches, search teams are not actively in the field but will react to new information and then actively search that area supported by the new information.”

Since Monday night’s slide, officials have air-searched the site with drones, helicopters and airplanes while teams using sniffer dogs and sonar covered the land and water, but the three people — one adult and two juveniles — are still missing, McDaniel said.

The slide shook the ground from near the mountaintop down to the ocean, destroying a wide stand of evergreen trees and burying a highway in the community of Wrangell Island, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Juneau. Rescue teams found the body of a girl in a preliminary search on Monday night, as well as the bodies of two adults Late Tuesday.

Mason Villarma, the district’s interim director, said about 54 homes were cut off from the city by the landslide, and approximately 35 to 45 people had chosen to stay in that area. Boats are used to provide supplies, including food, fuel, water and prescription medicines to these residents. Given the island’s geography — the town is at the northern point and the homes are along 13 miles (20.9 kilometers) of paved road — “the ocean is currently our only access to those residences,” he said.

Rangel usually celebrates Thanksgiving with a tree lighting and shopping events downtown, but he could replace that with a vigil, he said.

In this way, the city can “come together physically and acknowledge the tragedy and loss of life… but also the triumph of a small community that has really come together and been able to achieve some amazing successes, even in the face of challenges.” “All this adversity,” Villarma said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

The state Department of Transportation said on social media on Wednesday that the highway clearing operation would begin only after search and rescue efforts are completed. There was no immediate timetable for when that section of the highway would reopen.

A woman who was upstairs in the house was rescued on Tuesday. She was in good condition and under medical care. McDaniel said Tuesday that one of the three homes that was bombed was empty.

Because of the risks of searching in an unstable area, a geologist from the state Department of Transportation was brought in to conduct a preliminary assessment, clearing some areas of the slide to conduct ground searches. But authorities warned of the risk of more landslides.

The slide – estimated to be 450 feet (137 metres) wide – occurred during rain and a wind storm. Wrangell received about 2 inches (5 cm) of rain from early Monday until late evening, with wind gusts up to 60 mph, said Aaron Jacobs, a hydrologist and meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. (96 km/h) at higher altitudes.

It was part of a powerful storm system that moved across southeast Alaska, bringing heavy snow in places and blizzard-like conditions to the state capital of Juneau, as well as rain with minor flooding in the south.

The rain that fell on Wrangell on Monday was not unusual, but strong winds may have helped cause the slide, Jacobs said.

Saturated soil can give way when trees hit a slope, said Barrett Salisbury, a geologist with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

Wrangell is one of the oldest non-Alaskan Native settlements in the state — founded in 1811 when Russians began trading with the Tlingits, according to the state’s database of Alaskan communities. Aboriginal people lived in the area for a long time before outside contact. The Tlingit, Russians, British, and Americans all had historical influences on Wrangell.