Officials have identified two bodies found in landslide debris in a southeast Alaska town as two brothers who were reported missing in an area covered with tons of logs and muck.
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The discovery was reported to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at about 12:40 p.m. today, said spokesman Jeremy Zidek. The discovery was made near the location of the first body, which was found Wednesday evening.
Sixty-two-year-old building official William Stortz is believed to have been killed when the landslide crashed into a residential area Tuesday.
Meanwhile, further rescue and recovery at the site of the landslide have been hindered by relentless rain, and by the fact that the steep ground has been hard to stabilize.
The Dispatch News reports that workers cleared 25 yards of the slide Wednesday, working from the less risky uphill side, but couldn’t provide an estimate of its total size. One man remains missing.
However, rain fell overnight, and Zidek says the geologist will have to re-examine the area. The majority of earth and debris on the hillside have already come down, so there’s not much left to conjure up another landslide, which would have put the folks searching at even more risk.
“The seadog was a cadaver dog and it was able to locate the person rather quickly upon arrival in Sitka.” said Stevens.
More heavy rain was expected into the weekend. 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.
Ulises, and his brother, Elmer, were painting on the structure when the slide occurred, Stortz was at the location assessing the drainage system.
Rivera says he played basketball and football with both brothers.
“Most of us don’t have a lot of hope”, he said earlier in the day.
“It’s pretty devastating on how fast something like this can happen”, Simpson, a retired commercial fisherman, said in a phone interview from a saloon. Officials have not released the names of the people found dead.
Some residents near the construction site and at a downslope neighborhood were allowed to return home after being evacuated.
“All of a sudden, I heard crackling and crumbling, and then the lights flickered”, he told the Daily Sitka Sentinel.
The city has declared a state of emergency and is waiting for the state to follow.
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The latest on the deadly landslide in Sitka, Alaska (all times local).
