A new home under construction on Sitka’s Kramer Avenue was obliterated in the slide, Aug. 18, 2015. A neighboring home is unscathed. (Photo by Joel Curtis/National Weather Service)
Search crews recovered a body from the Kramer Avenue landslide in Sitka at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. The victim has not been identified.
Sitka Fire Chief Dave Miller reports that a team of cadaver dogs from Juneau led searchers to a sweatshirt on the west side of the slide, and subsequently to the body. Miller would not confirm the identity except to say, “It’s one of the [Diaz] boys.”
Elmer Diaz, 26, and his brother Ulises, 25, were working in one of the new homes under construction in the subdivision just off Kramer Avenue. The structure was completely obliterated by the landslide that struck Tuesday morning. The Diaz family has maintained vigil at Grace Harbor Church since the event.
Still missing are one of the Diaz brothers and Sitka building official William Stortz, 62, who was inspecting drainage in the subdivision when the slide occurred.
Gov. Bill Walker (right) and Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell visited the site of the Kramer Avenue landslide on Wednesday, Aug.19. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)
The body of one of the three missing men has been found.
Original story
Gov. Bill Walker was in Sitka Wednesday to assess the damage from a series of landslides that hit the city after heavy rains Tuesday. He also met with the families of three people missing since that morning.
Meanwhile, the search for those three men was proceeding slowly, hampered by fears of further landslides.
Walker arrived in Sitka early Wednesday morning and flew over the affected areas in a Coast Guard helicopter.
He said it wasn’t until he was standing at the edge of the Kramer Avenue landslide –where trees are stacked fifteen feet high and there’s a blank space on the hillside where a house used to be — that the scale of destruction came home to him.
“I mean, the size of the logs …” Walker said. “They showed me a picture of the house before. I mean it was a substantial, significant sized house … the devastation is just amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Three men are missing and presumed dead after a river of mud and debris wiped out a house and much of the road on Kramer Avenue, a new neighborhood about three miles from downtown Sitka. Walker said it reminded him of the scene in Valdez after the 1964 earthquake, and said he was “overwhelmed.”
“I’ve prided myself, I’ve been governor about nine months now. I’ve prided myself by saying I’ve never had a bad day,” Walker said. “Well, I can’t say that anymore. This is a really tough day.”
Walker also met with the families of the missing men. All three were involved in construction in the neighborhood. William Stortz, age 62, is Sitka’s building official. He was inspecting the site on Tuesday morning. Brothers Ulises and Elmer Diaz, ages 25 and 26, were working on one of the houses.
Meeting with family and friends of the Diaz brothers at Sitka’s Grace Harbor Church, Walker said he shares their frustration that search efforts aren’t happening faster. The area around Kramer Avenue remains unstable, and search teams have been held up by concerns about more landslides.
During a news conference with the governor at Sitka’s Fire Hall, City Administrator Mark Gorman choked up as he spoke about the three missing men — and about Sitka’s response. Hundreds of Sitka residents have signed up to volunteer in the search or have dropped off food for the responders and for families evacuated from their homes.
“What I found in the last 24 hours is heart-wrenching and it’s about community,” Gorman said. “William is a friend of many years, family, and a colleague. The Diaz boys grew up with my sons and this is what this is about today; it’s about hurt and caring in our community. I extend my sympathy to all the families and neighbors and friends. We are hurting collectively today.”
Fire Chief Dave Miller echoed Gorman. Miller said he’s worked with the Sitka Fire Department for about 28 years.
“I think yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life,” Miller said, pausing to regain his composure. “When I had to talk to those family members and say, ‘I am so sorry,’ first for what happened, and then that we are not allowing those teams to go in and start looking for your family members. The thing that we have to worry about is the safety of all the others, too. The safety of the people who are going to go in there and do that, look for their [family] members.”
Meanwhile, Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell said she’s not yet ready to give up hope.
“The important thing that I think a lot of us need to keep in mind [is] that miracles do happen,” McConnell said. “There are family members and friends that are hanging onto that, and I support that. You just never know.”
Sitka has requested the governor to declare a state of emergency, which would open up access to state funds for the response. Walker said the request is his staff’s top priority, and would be answered as soon as possible.
The early morning slide on Kramer Avenue, visible here in the center of the photo, destroyed one house and damaged another. (Photo by Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)
Update | 7:45 a.m. – Robert Woolsey, KCAW
Rescue operations wrapped up for Tuesday at around 8 p.m.. City
officials will consult with geologists at first light Wednesday
morning, and resume the recovery operation for the three missing men,
who are now presumed dead.
Original story
Three people are still missing after heavy rain triggered a series of landslides in Sitka Tuesday morning .
Governor Bill Walker plans to be in the city Wednesday to visit the affected areas.
The City of Sitka Tuesday evening identified the missing people as Sitka Building Official William Stortz, 62, Elmer Diaz, 26, and Ulises Diaz, age 25.
All three were involved in the construction of several new homes on Kramer Avenue, about two miles from downtown Sitka. The slide in that area destroyed one of the new homes entirely, and damaged another.
The area remained unstable Tuesday afternoon and officials suspended search and rescue efforts for several hours, over fears of further landslides — though rescuers did manage to pull a dog alive from the debris. As of Tuesday evening, search and debris removal efforts had begun again, with plans to continue Wednesday morning.
The neighborhood below the slide was evacuated. Neighbors reported a second slide on the northern end of Kramer Avenue, in an area that hasn’t yet been developed.
Heavy rains triggered what now appear to be at least six landslides in Sitka Tuesday morning, prompting the city to declare a state of emergency.
In addition to the two on Kramer Avenue, a slide across Sawmill Creek Road heavily damaged the administration building at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park, Sitka’s former pulp mill site, about eight miles from downtown. No injuries were reported, but the building was evacuated, along with bunkhouses belonging to local fish processor Silver Bay Seafoods. Sawmill Creek Road was closed past the industrial park as crews worked to remove the debris.
A fourth slide was reported in a more remote area, on Harbor Mountain, closing Harbor Mountain Road. Other slides were reported at Green Lake, and along the Gavan Hill trail.
The National Weather Service recorded over 2-and-a-half inches of rainfall in the six-hour period between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The flash flooding prompted temporary trail closures at Sitka National Historical Park. And flooding in the parking lot of the Sitka Laundry Center on Halibut Point Road opened a sinkhole the size of a large van in the pavement, threatening two propane tanks, which were safely removed from the site.
Officials now say only three people remain missing in Tuesday’s landslide: City building official William Stortz, 62, and construction workers Elmer Diaz,26, and Ulises Diaz, 25.
The area remained unstable and officials suspended search and rescue efforts for several hours this afternoon, over fears of further landslides — though rescuers did manage to pull a dog alive from the debris. As of Tuesday evening, rescue and debris removal efforts had begun again, and were planned to continue until dark, and pick up again in the morning.
Update | 4:17 p.m. – Rachel Waldholz, KCAW
Four people are believed missing after triggered a series of landslides in Sitka early Tuesday morning. Recovery efforts have been suspended while officials wait for the affected slopes to stabilize.
Those missing were all likely involved in the construction of several new homes on Kramer Avenue, about 2 miles from downtown Sitka. The slide in that area destroyed one of the new homes entirely, and damaged another, though the full extent of the damage was still unclear Tuesday afternoon.
Neighbors have reported a second slide on the northern end of Kramer Avenue, in an area that has not yet been developed.
The area remained unstable and officials suspended search and rescue efforts this afternoon, over fears of further landslides — though rescuers did manage to pull a dog alive from the debris. The neighborhood below the slide has been evacuated.
Heavy rain triggered what now appears to be at least three major landslides — and a handful of smaller ones — in Sitka this morning, prompting the city to declare a state of emergency.
A slide across Sawmill Creek Road heavily damaged the administration building at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park, Sitka’s former pulp mill site, about eight miles from downtown. No injuries were reported, but the building was evacuated, along with bunkhouses belonging to local fish processor Silver Bay Seafoods.
A third slide was reported in a more remote area, on Harbor Mountain.
Harbor Mountain Road has been closed above the first gate at the bottom of the hill. Sawmill Creek Road has been closed beyond Silver Bay Seafoods, as crews work to remove the debris.
The National Weather Service recorded over 2-and-a-half inches of rainfall in the six-hour period between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m..
The flash-flooding prompted temporary trail closures at Sitka National Historical Park. Flooding in the parking lot of the Sitka Laundry Center on Halibut Point Road opened a sinkhole the size of a large van in the pavement. Two propane tanks on the edge of the sinkhole have since been removed.
Update | 2:45 p.m. – Robert Woolsey, KCAW
A new home under construction on Sitka’s Kramer Avenue was obliterated in the slide. A neighboring home is unscathed. (Photo by Joel Curtis/National Weather Service)
Recovery operations have been suspended at the site of a major landslide in Sitka, after officials became concerned over instability of the failed slope.
Four people remain unaccounted for in the slide, which destroyed a new home under construction and damaged another.
Sawmill Creek Road has reopened. A second slide this morning crossed the road and damaged the administration building of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. A third slide near Jacobs Circle did no damage.
Update | 1:45 p.m. – Robert Woolsey, KCAW
Cascade Creek in Sitka was running high after heavy rainfall Tuesday. (Photo by Rebecca LaGuire/KCAW)
Four people are believed missing in a landslide that occurred in Sitka early this morning.
Those missing were all likely involved in the construction of several new homes on Kramer Avenue. The slide in that area destroyed one of the new homes entirely and damaged another.
Neighbors have reported a second slide on the northern end of Kramer Avenue in an undeveloped area.
Heavy rains triggered what appears to be three landslides in Sitka early in the day. A slide across Sawmill Creek Road heavily damaged the administration building at Gary Paxton Industrial Park, but no injuries were reported. The building was evacuated, along with the Silver Bay bunkhouses.
Sawmill Creek Road remains closed beyond Whale Park.
The National Weather Service recorded over 2-and-a-half inches of rainfall between 4 and 10 a.m.
The flash flooding prompted trail closures at Sitka National Historical Park. Flooding in the parking lot of the Sitka Laundry Center opened a sinkhole in the pavement. Two propane tanks on the edge of the sinkhole have been removed.
Sitka police and fire departments are asking residents to refrain from calling, as phone lines are needed for emergency communication. Also, there is no need for additional volunteer help at this time.
Original Story | 11:39 a.m. – Rachel Waldholz, KCAW
The City and Borough of Sitka has declared a state of emergency after heavy rain triggered at least three different landslides this morning.
The Sitka Fire Department has reported slides on Halibut Point Road, Kramer Avenue and Sawmill Creek Road, near the Gary Paxton Industrial Park.
A sinkhole opened up beneath a pair of propane tanks on Halibut Point Road. (Photo by Rebecca LaGuire/KCAW)
A sinkhole had opened up beneath a pair of propane tanks on Halibut Point Road.
The slide on Kramer Avenue damaged at least one house. The extent of the damage is not yet clear.
Anyone working on the construction on Kramer Avenue is asked to call the Sitka Police Department at 747-3245. Sitka Search and Rescue is trying to account for everyone who might have been in the homes affected by the slide.
The fire department closed Sawmill Creek Road at Whale Park. Kramer Avenue was also closed. Halibut Point Road remains open.
KCAW has also received reports from residents in the 2200 block of Halibut Point Road below Kramer Avenue that homes have been evacuated.
Expect more updates as information becomes available.
Dave Seaman has been delivering mail to small communities around the Kenai Peninsula for 30 years. (Photo by Shady Grove Oliver/KBBI
Like many rural areas, the south side of Kachemak Bay doesn’t get traditional mail service. Instead, communities rely on a mail boat to deliver the mail. It’s the kind of job that attracts a special type of person who’s willing to make the voyage across the bay — rain or shine, snow or ice — twice a week year-round. Dave Seaman is the man who’s been doing just that for the last 30 years.
Seaman lives up to his name. He’s a lanky 60-something fisherman. He wears durable pants and old sweaters and sets his week around the days when he delivers the mail.
“I wouldn’t know what day it was if it wasn’t Tuesday or Friday to hang it on,” he says.
We meet at the Homer post office to pick up the mail. He doesn’t really like coming to town; that’s why he lives across Kachemak Bay in Little Tutka, his one stop on today’s mail route.
When he shows up, he brusquely walks in the back door, punches his time card and heads straight for a tray marked “RED MOUNTAIN” — the name given to Little Tutka’s mail drop back before the old chrome mine shut down.
In recent years, the name has been reduced to the code RDO, a casualty of modern technology.
He tosses mail in different piles. He knows to forward a few letters to Homer addresses for Tutka residents summering in town.
“Oh, I know everybody,” he says. “I know where they are in the summer and in the winter and everything else.”
He stuffs everything into a large yellow mail bag and hightails it out the door.
“All right, that’s it. We got all our stuff; we can go head across the bay. The fun part begins,” he says.
We head down to the harbor and onto his old, green and white beast of a boat. As soon as we’re out on open water, he relaxes and starts to smile.
“I started it in 1987, so that makes almost 30 years. It’s kind of the thing that holds my whole life in line, really,” he says.
Less than an hour later, we arrive in Little Tutka Bay. Seaman grounds the front of his boat on the rocks and like a seafaring Santa Claus, tosses the mail sack over his shoulder and jumps off the bow.
The mail shed is a shack-like cabin haphazardly perched on a steep incline not too far above the water.
“Well you stumble up the beach, and then you climb up on a rock, and then you go up on top of this log and then there you are — you’re right in the back door, which the bear tore off,” he explains.
Inside the shack, there’s a big fish tote.
He’s lucky that today there’s only a handful of mail. He once served as the de facto moving company for a family coming from Bethel, hauling everything from the boat to the shack.
“That was fun. That was the biggest collection of Blaz-o boxes I’ve ever seen,” he says.
Once he’s done, he hops down. Back on the beach Seaman stops and looks around.
“Listen, there’s no noise here. There’s no noise here — no noise of tires on the highway. That’s the main thing, it’s just quiet and beautiful,” he says. “I lived over here for 20 years when I first got to the Homer area, raised a family here and always missed it when we moved to town to put the kids in school and all that. So I lived 20 years in town and now I’m back. This is my home.”
He says his job pays for his boat habit, keeps him connected to his neighbors and friends, and allows him to give back to his community.
“If I didn’t have somewhere I had to go, I’d stay back here and never go out, probably turn into a hermit,” he says. “It’s just fun. I’d probably do it for nothing, but don’t tell them I said that.”
And he believes in the mail. It’s more personal, perhaps more genuine, and it’s managed to hang on through the hustle and bustle of modern life. Little Tutka resident Gregor Welpton agrees.
“David provides a vital link for us here. He’s the guy who, no matter what’s going on in the bay, in the middle of winter, or in the beautiful days of summer, goes across and provides the link for us to pay our bills and get what comes in the mail,” Welpton says.
Back on the shore, it’s time to head out. Seaman still has some letters for his neighbors that he’ll hand deliver on his way back home to his little cabin.
We haul ourselves back onto the bow of his boat. As he starts it up, he bemoans the loss of the old Little Tutka mailing address once again — Red Mountain via Homer replaced by plain old RDO, the code for the nearest airstrip miles away.
“It’s not a really good fit, but it’s what we got. Maybe we could get it changed back. I always thought it would be fun to have our own ZIP code and get a stamp so we could be one of those places that people collect postal stamps from,” he says. “Maybe that would put us on the map.”
He reconsiders.
No … I don’t want us on the map. What am I saying?”
He says he’ll do this job until the day he dies — providing an important connection for the folks who live out here and hoping they won’t have to get too much more connected as the years go by.
Twin Lakes is closed to swimming due to high fecal bacteria. (Photo by Heather Bryant/KTOO)
Twin Lakes is closed to swimming after sample test water returned results indicating “high fecal bacteria.” The City and Borough of Juneau sent out a notice Saturday recommending that no one, including pets, swim in the lakes. The city issued the same notice about two weeks ago.
Twin Lakes is a popular recreation spot for families and pet owners. Feces not picked up by pet owners can leech into the lake; rain only hastens contamination. Last month was Juneau’s wettest July on record.
The next sampling will take place Monday morning and will include testing of water entering the lakes in an attempt to find the source of the bacteria.
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