From left, city engineer Dan Tadic, Fire Chief Dave Miller, Search and Rescue Capt. Lance Ewers, and firefighter Rob Janik look at the damage caused by a landslide on Kramer Drive Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015 in SItka, Alaska.  Four residents of a neighborhood in Alaska were missing Tuesday after heavy rain caused several landslides, emergency responders said. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

From left, city engineer Dan Tadic, Fire Chief Dave Miller, Search and Rescue Capt. Lance Ewers, and firefighter Rob Janik look at the damage caused by a landslide on Kramer Drive Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015 in SItka, Alaska. Four residents of a neighborhood in Alaska were missing Tuesday after heavy rain caused several landslides, emergency responders said. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

3 people missing after several landslides in Sitka

  • By Rachel D'oro
  • Tuesday, August 18, 2015 10:55pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — A landslide described by one witness as a sea of logs, mud and debris is believed to have trapped three people who were missing Tuesday from a neighborhood in the Alaska coastal town of Sitka.

City officials earlier said four people were missing.

A city building official is among those who are missing. City officials said he is William Stortz, 62, who also is the city fire marshal. The Daily Sitka Sentinel first reported the identity.

The other people missing are brothers 26-year-old Elmer Diaz and 25-year-old Ulises Diaz, Sitka fire spokeswoman Sara Peterson said.

A search had not yet started late Tuesday afternoon because of the instability of the site.

Stortz’s wife, Libby, was at the area of the slide, waiting for a search to begin, said a family friend, Peter Turner. “Most of us don’t have a lot of hope,” he said.

Chris Harshey, who is a carpenter, was working on a nearby home when the slide occurred. “All of a sudden, I heard crackling and crumbling, and then the lights flickered,” he told the Sentinel.

Harshey went outside to investigate and saw “a sea of large logs, mud, more logs and a slurry of muddy debris.” The slide destroyed a home about 200 yards above him and damaged another home closer to him.

The entire landslide lasted about four minutes, he said.

The landslides occurred Tuesday morning after 2 1/2 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. One sinkhole also was reported.

Gov. Bill Walker planned to tour Sitka on Wednesday to observe the damage. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing and all the people affected by the disasters in Sitka today,” Walker said in a statement.

One of the newly built homes was destroyed in the landslide, and another was damaged, Peterson said. Some other homes in the area were evacuated, but Peterson did not know how many residences or people were affected.

An office building just outside town also was evacuated because it is near one of the landslides.

Homes in town have been flooded, and there were reports of residents not being able to reach their homes or leave their neighborhood, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Longtime Sitka resident Nolan Simpson said he toured parts of town and saw one home where the driveway was gone, replaced by a stream washing through it. He passed the Indian River and said it was roaring.

The landslide at the construction site was especially heartbreaking, he said. “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.

The city of more than 9,000 people declared a state of emergency because of the landslides.

Sitka, almost 600 miles southeast of Anchorage, sees heavy rain throughout the year. More rain was expected.

Heavy rain was blamed for a major landslide in September near the town that wiped out hundreds of thousands of dollars in watershed-restoration projects. The rain also damaged a footbridge and trails, including one that had been repaired after flooding in January 2014.

A year earlier, two people at a U.S. Forest Service cabin near Sitka escaped moments before part of a mountain slid down.

More in News

Soldotna High School senior Josiah Burton testifies in opposition to the proposed cut of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District theater technicians while audience members look on during a board of education meeting on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board finance group reviews expenditures ahead of upcoming budget cycle

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District prepares to grapple with another… Continue reading

Members of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee raise hands to vote in favor of a proposal during a meeting at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon, personal use fishing discussed by advisory committee

The group set their recommendations on a variety of proposals to the State Board of Fisheries

Hoses pump water along Patrick Drive to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough spent almost $78k responding to flood events during disaster declaration

Most of the funds were spend in the northwest area of Kalifornsky Beach Road

The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory, in orange, effective for much of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. (Screenshot)
Heavy snow, blowing winds forecast for Turnagain Pass on Wednesday

Snow accumulations of up to 16 inches are expected

The Kenai Courthouse is seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Grand jury adds charges in October killing of Homer woman

The indictment was delivered on Nov. 8

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Anchorage resident arrested in Nikiski after troopers investigate reports of stolen vehicle

Troopers responded to a residential address in Nikiski around 11:30 a.m. after being notified by Sirius XM that a stolen vehicle was there

Santa Claus greets Hudson Reinhardt during Christmas Comes to Kenai festivities at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Getting into the holiday spirit

Christmas arrives in Kenai with fireworks, Santa and a lot of rain

Kinley Ferguson tells Santa Claus what she wants for Christmas during Christmas in the Park festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Creating a winter wonderland

Christmas in the Park to bring Santa, sleigh rides, fireworks on Saturday

Flowers bloom at Soldotna City Hall on Wednesday, June 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna to repair failed wastewater pipe

The pipe to be repaired discharges treated effluent into the Kenai River

Most Read