Officials ID bodies found after Alaska slide as 2 brothers

Officials ID bodies found after Alaska slide as 2 brothers

Searchers have found a second body in the aftermath of a large landslide in Sitka, Alaska, authorities said Thursday, and a third man remains missing and presumed dead.



Governor Walker traveled to Sitka on Wednesday to assess the damage done by the six landslides that occurred there and the flooding from the five inches of rain that fell there in a 24-hour period this week.

Sitka, Alaska, a city of about 9,000 people some 600 miles southeast of Anchorage, is a popular cruise ship destination, known almost as much for its near-constant rain as it is for its indescribably attractive scenery, says MSN.

The coastal town is expected to get 2 to 3 inches of rain over several days, beginning Friday evening.

Work at the slide site resumed at first light Friday as they tried to beat the incoming weather.

“We can not say what effect the rain will have on the already weakened slide area”, Deputy Sitka Fire Chief Al Stevens said in a statement.

Officials said Friday the two bodies found earlier this week were those of 26-year-old Elmer Diaz and 25-year-old Ulises Diaz.

“The main difference to the event we had Tuesday morning was the fact that this rainfall will be spread out over 36-48 hours”, he said. The picturesque fishing community, tucked between snowcapped mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is nestled in rain forest terrain on the west coast of Baranof Island that is characterized by heavy rains year-round.

“So it’ll have a little time, hopefully, for the water to shed off”, state Department of Transportation geologist Mitch McDonald said of the less intense rain that is expected.

Residents of about 20 homes near the construction site and at a downslope neighborhood were evacuated.

In addition to searching, the crews have also been cutting new drainage ditches and opening blocked culverts to minimize future slides.

Officials have now identified at least seven landslides around Sitka, including slides on the Blue Lake Road that are blocking access to Sitka’s dam; and washouts on the Green Lake Road. The dam infrastructure appears to have suffered no damage.

Emergency workers walk around a mud and debris-filled Kramer Drive to the site of a destroyed home Tuesday, August 18, 2015 in SItka, Alaska. “Everybody started running around yelling”.

The company found alternate housing for the employees that night, but most have since left Sitka as their season ended.

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