INSIDE: Hunt for Easter eggs ... Island Life, A16
Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 25 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Slide strands cars, homes evacuated in Langley
Jim Larsen / The Record
Eric Levine and his dog Angel look down at the landslide and emergency personnel minutes after the event occurred. “Whoa, what’s this?,” Levine said as Angel viewed the scene curiously.
By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter One hundred cubic yards of earth slid from Cascade Avenue down to Wharf Street, blocking the road and trapping dozens of cars Friday afternoon. Heavy snow stacked on top of the bluff Friday morning, then quickly melted as temperatures rose. Land gave way at 1 p.m. as the weight increased and the dirt became unstable, leading to a sudden slide that stretched 60 feet on Wharf
Street. While a crew cleared the mud and shrubs, a secondary slide occurred at about 4 p.m. Part of the secondary slide splintered a power pole which cut energy to Wharf Street and the marina. “We are monitoring it daily,” said Mayor Fred McCarthy. Homes below the slide area were evacuated as a precaution and sandbags were placed in front of the Boatyard Inn to prevent mud from sliding into its building. Costs for the cleanup and stability
Jim Larsen / The Record
Wharf Street was entirely blocked by the landslide debris that fell from Cascade Avenue. Cars parked at the Langley Marina were stranded and walking was a difficult and risky undertaking.
assessments were not immediately available. An assessment by Martin McCabe from URS Engineering stated Cascade Avenue and the bluff are now safe. Passengers on the Mystic Sea whale watching tour out of Langley Marina were stranded on the wrong side of the slide. With their cars parked down near the marina, whale watchers were left wondering how they would get home. City staff directed the visitors to Island Transit. Staff and resident volunteers John and Nancy Anderson-
Taylor, Shannon McCarthy and Edouard Stringer drove them to the Clinton Ferry Terminal and set up accommodations in the city, Clinton, Freeland and Greenbank. All whale watching visitors were dispatched from city hall by 7 p.m. “I’m very proud of our people,” McCarthy said. “Everybody pulled together.” Power was finally restored to the area by 2:30 a.m. Saturday after Puget Sound Energy evaluated and repaired the broken pole and blown transformer.
Further cleanup Saturday was filled with hindrance after hindrance. One of Island Asphalt’s box blades needed repairs, then once it was fixed, the vehicle had a flat tire. The company used a backhoe to scrape debris off the road. An AQUA Clean Vacu Truck also suffered a flat tire that night, which further slowed the cleaning process. Drivers whose vehicles were trapped at the marina were able to drive out by 4 p.m. Saturday. See Landslide, A6
Bleeding woman crawls, screams to escape attacking dog Jim Larsen / The Record
At right, Amanda Gates shows a wounded arm and pokes her fingers through a hole in her jacket’s hood made by a dog bite. Since the thick hood covered her neck, she thinks it may have saved her life.
By JIM LARSEN Record editor A young Clinton woman feels she was lucky to escape death when attacked by a vicious dog, leaving her with serious head wounds and other bites to her back and arms. Amanda Gates, a slim 19-year-old brunette, was housesitting March 20 for an acquaintance, Elisbetta
Poggie-Blethen, at her home on Deer Lake Road. Three dogs were chained outside, two 5 month old pups named Sprocket and Tazzy and an adult male guard dog named Axel, a shepherd/husky mix chained to a runner. On her way to run some errands, Gates noticed the two pups were tangled up in their chains. She went to straighten things out as the guard dog was barking. She
took notice when the barking stopped. “I looked up to seem him charging straight at me,” she said Thursday morning, recovering at the home of her step-mother Tresha Machemia who lives at the bottom of Swede Hill Road. “My brain stopped working. I just turned around to run.” While the dog was attached See Dog ATTACK, A10