Pastor Paul McArthur says Grace Harbor Church is just a tool for the ministry, like the “hands and feet of its congregation.” He doesn’t think the church changed much after its dramatic role in the slide recovery effort, although it did have to serve temporarily as a Catholic sanctuary. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

It took three days to recover the first victim of the August, 2015 landslide in Sitka. A full week would go by before the body of the third-and-final person would be found. In the interim, the community of Sitka staged a 24-hour relief effort out of Grace Harbor Church, the nearest building with the capacity to feed dozens of relief workers, shelter neighborhood evacuees, and to comfort the hundreds of residents awaiting news of the victims.

Paul McArthur has been the pastor at Grace Harbor for 30 years. He says his church is just a tool to serve the ministry, and wasn’t fundamentally altered by the way it served the community in the weeks following the slide. But in one way it did change, at least for a short time: Grace Harbor is a Baptist congregation, but two of the victims, the brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz, were Roman Catholic. Their parents and extended families are all from Mexico.

In the last of our 5-part series looking back on the 2015 Sitka landslide, KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with McArthur about how he bridged faith and tradition to serve a family in need.

Downloadable audio.

McArthur – That was especially personal for me. I had two kids that were in Elmer’s class, so I had known him since he was a little boy. I found out about the slide when a woman from our church who lives on Jacobs Circle, just below where the slide ended, came out and said that the upper part of Kramer was covered with logs. And because my son was building his house up there I wasn’t sure until I texted him, Are you okay? And waited to know if my son and his family had been lost. So that was a very sobering time for me. Then to see Mr. Diaz – Guierrmo – outside standing there through the rest of that day, I had a very real sense of that could be me standing there waiting for news of my family.
KCAW – It couldn’t have been easy confronting Guierrmo Diaz.
McArthur – Guierrmo and Lupe are a very loving family, and they were supported by a lot of their family there as well. And we tried to protect their privacy. It’s not very often — like never — that I have to deal with whether or not to allow TV cameras into our church building. But we had to do that. At the time that the inevitable occured and each of the boys were found, the police had to come and make that news known to the parents. That was a very difficult time, and very much grief.
KCAW – Was Father Andy (Sensenig) there?
McArthur – Yes. There was good representation of our clergy here, but I really got to know Fr. Andy on a much more personal level. And when it came time to do the funeral service for the Diaz boys he and I did that service together.
KCAW – What was it like turning Grace Harbor into a temporary Roman Catholic church?
McArthur – We laughed about this a little bit, to say that a Baptist preacher and a Catholic priest sat down to plan a funeral service sounds like the first line of a joke. We worked together very well on that. I appreciated him a lot. We talked about how the service would be put together, there was some modification from both sides. We recognized that it wasn’t about us. It was about the people who needed to have this opportunity to not only grieve and express that grief, but to receive the comfort that God offers, and we were on one page in that area. So he spoke and brought a message that was related to God being represented in the natural elements of the earth and the water and the stone. I spoke from the heart of a father, someone who loses a family member. What was interesting for us in Sitka is that we tend to think of the mountains as being our place of safety. We have a tsunami warning tower right across the road from us and we’re conscious of our vulnerability to the ocean rising. But our place of safety was that which had now turned against us. And for me that was the opportunity to relate the words from the Psalm: The Lord is our strength and our refuge, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore I will not fear even though the earth gives way and the mountains slide into the sea.

Paul McArthur is the pastor of Grace Harbor Church in Sitka, which served as ground-zero for the recovery effort following the August 18, 2015 landslide.

Listen to the other stories in KCAW’s 2015 Landslide Retrospective…

Part 1, A weather forecaster returns to Sitka’s slide: ‘We were snakebit.’

Part 2, A city responds to a landslide: ‘It was a loss of innocence’

Part 3, Living in the shadow of the landslide

Part 4, Notes from the Landslide: One Year Later

In spite of everything, 2015 will be remembered as a good year in Sitka. It’s the year that the community’s faith, grit, and forward-thinking principles were put to the test. (KCAW photo/Emily Kwong)

In spite of everything, 2015 will be remembered as a good year in Sitka. It’s the year that the community’s faith, grit, and forward-thinking principles were put to the test. It’s the year that Sitkans forged tragedy, loss, and crisis into a renewed sense of purpose. It’s the year than many of us decided to try and lead better lives, for ourselves and others.

KCAW’s Robert Woolsey has this look back at 2015.

Downloadable audio.

If you think I’m going to exaggerate the significance of 2015 you should think about this: The top story of 2014 was the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Sitka’s school board takes the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Yup. You had forgotten all about that.

Sitka’s 2015 will be memorable because our biggest stories were clustered together in a year that was already sprinkled with interesting news stories, like the state’s closing all its parks here, its goal-line stand against an invasive marine species called D-vex, the school district outsourcing Community Schools, the Sitka Softball team winning its 5th state championship in 6 years, or the Cross Country  and Girls Basketball teams winning its first titles — ever. Go Wolves!

The Lady Wolves made it 5 out of 6 in Softball in 2015. (Facebook photo)

The epic news began on Monday August 17, when the Electric Department notified media that 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel had leaked from a storage tank at the Jarvis St. generator plant. Much of it had been recovered in a concrete containment structure designed for just this emergency. But an unknown amount — possibly as much as 7,000 gallons — had drained into a storm sewer that emptied into Jamestown Bay. (Note: This figure was subsequently revised down to 2,500 gallons.)

The state and city set up an incident command center to manage the situation, which would prove to be provident. The very next morning, Tuesday August 18, a sopping-wet storm system dropped down the outer coast and soaked Sitka with as much as 5 inches of rain in under six hours.

The deluge triggered 7 landslides on the Sitka road system, one of them sweeping through a new development on Kramer Avenue, destroying a house and killing two workers inside, the brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz, age 24 and 25, and also taking the life of 62-year old William Stortz, Sitka’s building official.

City engineer David Longtin performing recovery work at the landslide that nearly overtook him. Longtin was not totally at ease — “I’m keeping my eye on it,” he said. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Municipal engineer David Longtin and an excavator operator, Jerome Mahoskey, escaped. Longtin said they had very little time to react.

“We heard a rumbling. It didn’t immediately dawn on us what it was. We looked at each other with puzzled expressions and looked at the hill, and saw these 200-foot trees falling like dominoes — boom, boom, boom, one after another.”

The next day, Gov. Bill Walker flew to Sitka to personally assess the scene.

Gov. Bill Walker (right) and Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell visited the site of the Kramer Avenue landslide on Wednesday, August 19. (Rachel Waldholz, KCAW)

“I’ve been governor about nine months now and I’ve prided myself by saying I’ve never had a bad day. Well, I can’t say that anymore. This is a really tough day.”

And it would get tougher. Volunteers flooded the firehall with offers of assistance, but the threat of more rain forced officials to keep most everyone off the slope. And it soon became clear that there would be no rescue. Grace Harbor Church transformed into a 24-hour care center, for recovery workers, for families evacuated from the surrounding neighborhoods. Working in shifts, coaches and friends from their former high school baseball team found the bodies of Elmer and Ulises about 3 days after the slide. William’s body was finally found a week after, on August 25.

Seattle Fire Battalion Chief Thomas Richardson flew to Sitka to advise. His department had managed the slide in Oso, Washington, in March 2014, which claimed 43 lives.

“Yeah, it’s very similar. In fact it’s déjà vu.”

The video of the arrest of 18-year-old Franklin Hoogendorn will be examined by the FBI< along with Sitka’s police procedures. (YouTube image capture)

Then came the video. Over Halloween weekend a Sitka middle school teacher, Alexander Allison, posted a pair of videos on social media. One, of his own arrest as a bystander watching a DUI investigation, and a second showing then 18-year old Franklin Hoogendorn, a Mt. Edgecumbe High School student, being taken into custody by Sitka police, and being tasered multiple times as three officers subdued him in the local jail. The Hoogendorn video went viral.

Police chief Sheldon Schmitt said the video only told part of the story.

“What you’re seeing on the video is the culmination of a longer contact.”

Schmitt maintains that Hoogendorn was resisting — since the moment officers confronted him earlier in the evening outside a Sitka bar — and that the use of the taser conformed to police policies in place at the time of the arrest in September 2014.

Since the video went public, Hoogendorn has obtained legal counsel. His attorney, Myron Angstman, says the video tells its own story.

“It doesn’t really matter what I think the tape says, or what you think the tape says, or what the police chief thinks the tape says, or what the city manager thinks the tape says — because the jury has the final decision as to what that tape says.”

The conduct of the Sitka police officers is being reviewed by the FBI. The Sitka Tribe sent a letter formally asking the bureau to investigate possible racial bias in Sitka’s police department. At the request of media, Sitka released its police operating procedures manual, but the 342-page document doesn’t spell out guidelines for use of a taser. Top officers in the department held a town hall meeting with Tribal citizens to discuss concerns and ease tensions, but could not directly address the Hoogendorn incident since it appears headed to court.

The rest of the news in 2015 was lighter, but no less important. For example, the CEO of Sitka Community Hospital bolted. Well, technically Jeff Comer skipped town in 2014, but the news became public when he failed to show up for a meeting with the assembly on January 2.

Comer had been working in Sitka for less than three months. His abrupt departure, paired with a bizarre story of being attacked by an unidentified couple on a Sitka trail, left people more amused than worried.

The hospital classroom was packed for the first board meeting following the disappearance of Jeff Comer. Staffers urged transparency as the board moves forward. “A lot of what’s happened has been a mystery to us,” said one. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Municipal attorney Robin Koutchak assured the hospital board that Comer would not be coming back.

“Ann, I think he’s gone. (Laughter) Elvis left the building.”

Sitka businessman Rob Allen later took the job of CEO, stabilizing the hospital’s finances, and possibly restoring sanity.

Sitka wrapped up the largest public works project in its history in 2015 – the $157-million Blue Lake Hydro expansion.
Electrical department engineer Dean Orbison was boosterish about the project for the two years it took to raise the dam and build a new powerhouse. But when he cut the ribbon in May, he didn’t seem to upset too take off his hard hat once and for all.

Project Manager Dean Orbison (left) and Mayor Mim McConnell smashed a bottle of champagne against one of the new, blue turbines. (Emily Kwong/KCAW)

“This particular project, this success, and working together with this team is by far the pinnacle of my career. Which ends today!”

Another significant departure this year was John Straley’s. The former writer laureate of Alaska retired from a three-decade career as a criminal investigator, most recently for the Public Defender’s Office in Sitka. Straley drew on his work experience to write nine novels, which he says, had far more “moral certainty” than real life.

“Reality is always so much more complicated, with so much more gray area. And in stories, you always make it work out faster.”

John Straley, in his office at the Sitka Public Defender. With up to 50 cases in play at any given time, Straley says the work “can be rewarding, but also heartbreaking.” (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

As if to illustrate Straley’s point, the family of Lael Grant in June asked the state to issue her death certificate. The 33-year old mother of two went missing in 2012, with no ID in her possession, and no other means to travel off-island.

Her sister, Erika Burkhouse, believed Grant’s disappearance was connected to her involvement with Sitka’s drug culture. She didn’t want to give up hope, but the family needed to move on.

“I think she just got too far in, you know. She was in a really bad place after my dad passed away. So I would like to think so. She was a strong person, she really was. Those boys meant the world to her, and despite what was happening to her, and her unhealthy lifestyle, she still somehow managed to be a good mom.”

The state ruled Grant’s death a likely homicide. The case remains open and unsolved.

The 80-foot tender Kupreanof slips beneath the waves just seconds after the last crew member was hoisted aboard an Air Station Sitka helicopter. (USCG image)

And life also made headlines in 2015. Early in the morning on June 10, the 80-foot fishing tender Kupreanof began taking on water offshore of Lituya Bay. An Air Station Sitka helicopter arrived on scene and found the Kupreanof about half-submerged in rough seas, with four men on board.

The helicopter commander, Chris Stoeckler, asked the crew to get in their life raft, but the Kupreanof radioed back, with a problem.

“I’ve got one man that’s pretty old and can’t swim.”

A rescue swimmer was lowered to assist all four men into a raft, and all were safely hoisted to the helicopter, just as the Kupreanof slipped under the waves. There is a video of this rescue available online that is more real than any reality television you’ll ever see, though it plays like another day at the office for the cool heads flying the helicopter.

Simeon Swetsov, Jr., left, the mayor of St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands, choked up as he testified before the NPFMC advisory panel. Beside him is Mateo Paz-Soldan. (Rachel Waldholz/KCAW)

Sitka hosted two major fisheries meetings this year, the State Board of Fisheries, and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. The meetings were filled with intense issues, but none more so than the Council’s deliberations over wasted halibut — or bycatch. The stakes are enormous for small-boat fishermen in the villages of Western Alaska. Member Duncan Fields was aggrieved when the rest of the council adopted bycatch limits favoring larger commercial interests.

“I acknowledge on a personal basis my identity with the folks living in Western Alaska, and their loss of economic opportunity, personal identity, and cultural legacy. I get it.”

On three separate occasions this fall young vandals tipped over headstones in the Russian Orthodox Cemetery. (KCAW photo/Emily Kwong)

Cultural legacy came into play in other news stories as well. This fall, Sitka’s Orthodox Cemetery was struck by three separate episodes of vandalism, where numerous headstones were tipped over. Bob Sam is the caretaker of the 200-year old cemetery, which holds the remains of mostly Alaska Natives.

“When you’re washing a headstone, it’s no different than washing somebody’s feet. You experience a kind of humility.”

Sam was nearing despair over the repeated vandalism, but help from the police department and cadets at the Sitka Trooper Academy helped restore his faith. After each incident, law enforcement personnel returned to the cemetery to raise the stones, some weighing hundreds of pounds. Sitka police later caught the culprits, a group of 8-10 year old children.

Another cultural rift was mended when the Alaska Day Committee was called out on its use of the name “Slave Auction” for an annual fundraiser at the Pioneer Bar. Pressure to drop the name came from the NAACP in Anchorage, in a press release issued on Alaska Day. In the auction, business owners agree to provide a service to a high bidder.
Event organizers felt that the otherwise benign, 31-year old event had been unfairly targeted. This is Mary Magnuson.

“This controversy frankly offends me a little bit, that people who know nothing about my community are pointing fingers and acting like we’re racist.”

The Sitka Tribe endorsed the NAACP’s position, saying “slave auction” was insensitive. The committee changed the name to “Alaska Day Auction,” and suggested that they would have welcomed a phone call from the NAACP, rather than a limelight.

There is cultural rift, and then there’s just culture.

Music: Cantina Band from Star Wars

On December 17, in Sitka and just about everywhere, fans flocked to the premiere of Episode VII of Star Wars. The intergalactic odyssey proved inter-generational, as parents stood in a line reaching toward St. Michael’s Cathedral to watch a film with their children, that they first saw as children themselves.

“This is probably the most important night of my life since I was 5 years old on Christmas Eve and watched Star Wars for the first time,” said one movie-goer.

Mike Romine stands in front of his home on Wachusetts Street. He even provided a low-power FM signal so viewers could listen to holiday music in their vehicles. (KCAW photo/Brielle Schaeffer)

And afterwards, on that evening and many others, Sitkans would get in their cars to drive to the corner of Kimsham and Wachusetts streets, to the home of Mike Romine, a Christmas light enthusiast and — for one month at least –probably Sitka’s best electrical customer.

Romine’s show has evolved over the past decade into something worthy of Vegas, but it isn’t heavy handed. As programmed lights climb a tower, they merge to form the words August 18, Elmer, Ulises, and Bill — the three Sitkans who perished in the landslide.

“I just knew that there were a lot of people that it affected. People just came together, it was a pretty big deal. And because I was thinking of them, most of Sitka probably was too. I think the families have appreciated it.”

Music: Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again.

And it’s been gestures like Mike Romine’s, large and small, bright and not so visible — too many to count, really — that turn a difficult year into a good one.

Let’s meet again in 2016. Happy New Year.

Over forty individuals played several games of basketball in memory of the Diaz Brothers last week at the Hames Center. Elmer and Ulises Diaz often played at the community gym with friends. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Today marks the one month anniversary of the August 18th landslide, which claimed the lives of three men in Sitka. Two of them were brothers. Elmer and Ulises Diaz were 26 and 25. 

Graduates of Sitka High School, the Diaz brothers were dedicated athletes and fierce friends. Their love of basketball often brought them to the Hames Center on the Sheldon Jackson campus for pick-up games on Tuesdays. And last week (09-08-15), the gym opened its doors for friends to play in their honor. Emily Kwong watched from the sidelines and spoke with two of friends of the Diaz brothers, Jayson Asnin and Cameron Bowers.

Downloadable audio.

Jaysin Asnin: My name is Jaysin Asnin.

Cameron Bowers: My name is Cameron Bowers. First of all, it was really cool that SJ (Sheldon Jackson) made it a free night for this week. It’s definitely in my mind, Elmer and Ulises, when I’m out there. One thing about those guys is they loved to compete and they wanted to win too, so they always competed hard. I wanted to be out there tonight in memory of them and play some basketball. I first met Elmer back in 2000-2001 when he was still a little younger in middle school and I was a freshman playing basketball.

JA: Uli’s a lefty. He’s really good. He played City League and we’re on the same team together. He’s probably the scorer on the team. He’s definitely kind of the coach and he definitely had a little sass and attitude but in a good way. He was definitely intense about it, but he made us play better together. He was definitely the captain of the team. And Elmer, he’s gotta look good and match. “If you look good, you play good,” was his thing. He was just a good defender and a hustle player.

CB: We were here. I think it was a Tuesday night. I can’t remember who exactly was guarding him, but whenever an offensive player makes a cool move and the defender falls down, you usually calls it “breaking ankles.” And Elmer did that to his defender. The defender fell down and Elmer stepped back and sunk the shot while he was on the ground. It was pretty entertaining and everyone was oohing and aahing.

JA: Uli was more sensitive, but in a good way. And Elmer was always about having fun and having a good time. If you think of Elmer, you’d see Elmer for a while and then all of a sudden Uli would be here. They always did everything together. And they’re both like that. It’s going to be really weird for a long time for all of us because they are a big glue in our group. We’re all talking. Everyone is still keeping in touch. We tell each other we love them because…I was with Uli on Monday before this all happened. We were all at the bar, just having a drink. And I saw him at the Pub and that was the last time I saw Uli. Everyone’s just telling each other, “We love you.” You gotta appreciate every day you have just because you never know.

CB: I definitely think they’re looking over us. I don’t know. It’s weird not having them here, but it’s a strong community. I think it’s going to take some time. We’ll miss them.

Those are the voices of Cameron Bowers and Jayson Asnin, two of over forty individuals who played a game of basketball in memory of the Diaz Brothers last week at the Hames Center.

Today marks the one month anniversary of the August 18th landslide, which claimed the lives of three men in Sitka. Two of them were brothers. Elmer and Ulises Diaz were 26 and 25.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Joel Curtis (left) spoke with reporters Friday, along with DOT geologist Mitch McDonald and Deputy Fire Chief Al Stevens (right). (Robert Woolsey, KCAW)

Search teams in Sitka were racing the clock today (Friday 8-21-15), as they worked to find the third victim of Tuesday’s landslide before a new storm arrives tonight.

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain and wind in Sitka this weekend.  Officials say the weather will make it unsafe for crews to work, as more rain could cause more slides.

DOT geologist Mitch McDonald is part of a team assessing the landslides around Sitka. Of the Kramer Avenue landslide, he said, “I would stay away from the area, if the rain intensity occurs as it’s predicted. That’s what I personally would do.” (Robert Woolsey, KCAW)

Meanwhile, officials today released the names of the two landslide victims whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday. They were identified as Elmer and Ulises Diaz, ages 26 and 25. The two brothers were working on the Kramer Avenue house that was destroyed in Tuesday’s landslide.

Teams are still searching for the third man missing since Tuesday, 62-year-old William Stortz, Sitka’s building official.

Deputy Fire Chief Al Stevens, who is running the response, said this afternoon that recovery teams  had a “a very small window” in which to finish their work, “and it’s rapidly closing.”

“I intend to pull all crews out at approximately 8 o’clock tonight. If the rains come sooner, I’m going to pull them out sooner,” Stevens said. “We’re gonna pull all equipment, all crews out, obviously for safety reasons. We will probably stand down all operations throughout the weekend, until we reassess the weather and it allows us to get back in there and do whatever it is we need to do.”

There were several dog teams on site today from the Juneau-based search group SEADOGS. Dogs had called attention to an area on Thursday where officials hoped to find William Stortz. But Stevens said that as of Friday afternoon, dogs had also indicated several other sites, and crews are working at all of them. He said it isn’t easy going.

“As you can imagine, this is rather deep, with mud, water, logs,” Stevens said. “And you don’t just come in and scoop a big chunk out and call it good. You have to methodically and meticulously pull one piece out at a time, and we have spotters in there that have to look at what’s happening, and and this is why it’s taking so long.”

The National Weather Service is predicting up to three inches of rain in the next 36 to 48 hours. But meteorologist Joel Curtis said that’s still significantly less intense than the storm on Tuesday that caused at least six landslides around town.

“We got 2.57 inches at the airport in six hours,” Curtis said. “So we figure along the ridge [where the landslide began] it was much, much more. And I’ve actually got someone with a rain gauge that says, hey,  they got five inches. And I am guardedly trusting that reading that they got.”

Curtis said that because the rain is falling over a longer period of time, that may limit the risk of landslides this weekend.

Still, Department of Transportation geologist Mitch McDonald said there is “definitely still the risk” of more slides, and of more movement at the Kramer Avenue slide in particular.

“I would stay away from the area, if the rain intensity occurs as it’s predicted,” McDonald said. “That’s what I personally would do.”

The city has issued a voluntary evacuation request for Kramer Avenue and the neighborhoods below it, including Sand Dollar and Whale Watch Drives. Those residents were evacuated immediately after the landslide, before being allowed to return home on Wednesday.  An evacuation order remains in effect for Jacobs Circle.

A temporary shelter at Grace Harbor Church will be open for residents displaced by the voluntary evacuation.

The City has also called an emergency Assembly meeting for 8 p.m. tonight (Friday, 8-21-15) to consider a local disaster declaration ordinance. That meeting will take place in the 3rd floor conference room at City Hall.

Elmer (l.) and Ulises Diaz were painting in the house destroyed by a landslide in Sitka Tuesday. The volunteer crew that recovered their bodies included teammates and former coaches from Sitka High School. (GoFundMe photo)

Officials have released the names of the two landslide victims recovered on Wednesday and Thursday. They have been identified as brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz, ages 26 and 25, who were working on one of the houses on Kramer Avenue at the time of the slide.

Teams are continuing to search today for William Stortz, 62, Sitka’s building official and the third man missing since Tuesday’s landslide.

Officials are hoping to finish recovery efforts today, before more rain arrives tonight. Weather forecasts are calling for significant rainfall and wind through the weekend. In a press release this morning, the city said it expects the weather will force the halt of all operations over the weekend, for the safety of the crews.

A memorial fund established for the Diaz family has raised over $12,000 by this morning (8-21-15).

Recovery crews halt work while a trained cadaver dog scents the site where the body of 62-year-old William Stortz is thought to be located. A previous dog alerted at the location of the green stake in the center of the image. (KCAW photo, Robert Woolsey)

Search crews have recovered two bodies from the Kramer Avenue landslide in Sitka.

One man remains missing but search dogs have called attention to a third location on the south side of the slide, where work focused this afternoon (Thurs, 8-20-15).

Officials hope to recover all three bodies before heavy rain predicted Friday.

Downloadable audio

Search crews were finally able to get to work in earnest late Wednesday and Thursday, after a period in which officials kept work on the site to a minimum out of fear of more landslides.

Crews found the first body at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, and recovered the second just before 1 p.m. Thursday, both on the north side of the slide. Both bodies were first found by dogs with the Juneau-based search team SEADOGS.

By Thursday afternoon, dogs had identified a third site, where crews hoped to find the body of 62-year-old William Stortz, Sitka’s building official. Stortz was inspecting drainage in the subdivision at the time of the landslide with two other men who managed to escape. Stortz and brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz, ages 26 and 25, went missing in the Tuesday morning slide.

Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell was at the Kramer Avenue site for most of the day Thursday. She said it was a relief to family members to have some kind of closure.

“Obviously it’s good to know what’s happened to your loved one,” McConnell said. “And we can move on from hoping and wishing to just being able to grieve.”

The area around Kramer Avenue remains unstable. The slide moved downhill another two feet overnight. The city has posted workers on each side of the slide with airhorns, to signal an evacuation if any additional movement is detected. But McConnell said crews were just happy to be able to work.

“I think they feel the way I do,” McConnell said. “It’s a huge relief, and I know so many of the volunteers and people working have been frustrated because they couldn’t do anything initially. And so it’s just been a relief to be able to get in there and get to work and get going.”

Sunshine broke through for much of the day on Thursday. As the clouds lifted it was possible to see the path of the landslide above Kramer Avenue, where it cut a muddy swath down the hillside. A team of geologists brought in to assess the slide estimated that it started about 1400 feet up Harbor Mountain, or about 1000 feet above Kramer Avenue, where it wiped out one home and damaged another.

Searchers hoped to recover all three bodies before more rain predicted for Friday.

The National Weather Service is calling for two to three inches of rain Friday night, and gusty winds. But meteorologist Joel Curtis said this storm will be less intense, with a limited risk of more slides.   

“What’s different about this event is that it’s going to be spread out over much more time than the event that caused our mudslides and landslides around here,” Curtis said.

Officials have identified at least six landslides around Sitka caused by Tuesday’s heavy rain,  including slides on the Blue Lake Road that are blocking access to Sitka’s main hydroelectric dam; and washouts on the Green Lake Road, on the way to the city’s other hydro dam.

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 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 which struck Tuesday morning (8-18-15). The Diaz family has maintained a vigil at Grace Harbor Church since the event.

Gov. Bill Walker (right) and Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell visited the site of the Kramer Avenue landslide on Wednesday, August 19. (Rachel Waldholz, KCAW)

Governor Bill Walker was in Sitka today (Wednesday, 8-19-15) to assess the damage from a series of landslides that hit the city after heavy rains yesterday. He also met with the families of three people missing since Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, the search for those three men was proceeding slowly, hampered by fears of further landslides.

Downloadable audio

The Kramer Avenue landslide on Tuesday wiped out a house and much of the road. Three people are missing and presumed dead. (Rachel Waldholz, KCAW)

Gov. Walker arrived in Sitka early Wednesday morning and flew over the affected areas in a Coast Guard helicopter.

But, 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.”

The Kramer Avenue landslide buried part of a truck on Tuesday. (Rachel Waldholz, KCAW)

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 Sitkans have signed up to volunteer in the search, or have dropped off food for the responders and for families evacuated from their homes.

“And 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. And I extend my sympathy to all the families and neighbors and friends. We are hurting collectively today.”

Gorman was echoed by Fire Chief Dave Miller. Miller said he’s worked with the Sitka Fire Department for about 28 years. “And 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.

“And that’s the important thing that I think a lot of us need to keep in mind,” McConnell said.  “Is that, miracles do happen. And there are family members and friends that are hanging onto that, and I support that. You just never know. So we’re hopeful. And I’m going to stay that way until it doesn’t make sense.”

Sitka has requested that the governor 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.

City engineer David Longtin is back working at the landslide that nearly overtook him Tuesday. Longtin is not totally at ease — “I’m keeping my eye on it,” he says. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

As crews continue to cautiously work through debris searching for the three victims of Tuesday’s deadly landslide in Sitka, it’s clear that the event could have been much worse. There are many homes below and to either side of the slide, and there were two other people directly in its path who escaped.

KCAW’s Robert Woolsey visited the slide zone today (Wed 8-19-15) to meet with a survivor.

Downloadable audio.

It’s not raining at the moment in Sitka, at least not down here close to sea level. But the amount water running through the Kramer Avenue slide suggests that the heavy clouds overhead are again saturating the slopes of Harbor Mountain.

City engineer David Longtin is working with some tree fallers and a track hoe to divert water away from the recovery area.

“It’s going to start raining again. And when it does start raining we don’t want more water to go in there. We want it to go in the ditch where it should be.”

Longtin has been here almost continuously since the hillside above Kramer broke loose Tuesday morning at 9:30. He had accompanied city building official William Stortz to the site to inspect the drainage in this brand-new subdivision after the extraordinarily heavy rainfall earlier in the day.

Longtin and Stortz were standing in the drive complimenting the work of a third man, excavator Jerome Mahoskey, when the slide started.

“We heard a rumbling. It didn’t immediately dawn on us what it was. We looked at each other with puzzled expressions, and then we looked up the hill and saw these 200-foot trees falling like dominoes, boom-boom-boom, one after another.”

Although the slide was still far up the mountain, Longtin says it was moving fast. The subdivision was tucked into a small ravine, and it was clear that the slide could turn and head their way.

That’s when they started running.

Of the three of us, William was the farthest uphill, but still within five feet of us. Jerome was next to me as we started sprinting down the hill. Out of the corner of my eye I saw William behind me with a concerned look on his face, and we just started running. I was aware of Jerome being next to me the whole time we were running — and not aware of William. I think I would have been aware of him, even though he was behind us. He’s 61 or 62 years old but very fit, very nimble. So we ran down the access road, got into Kramer. Started running down Kramer, and I decided to run up onto this 30-foot embankment — this pile of gravel — to try and stay above it all. Jerome decided to stay out on the road. You can see where the slide stops. Jerome was able to run past here before the slide got here. And from the time we started running until the time we got up here it was probably no more than 10 or 12 seconds — no more than that. And no sign of William.

Sitka building official William Stortz, at play in Sitka Sound. (Facebook photo)

The search is still underway for Stortz’s body, and those of two other victims, brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz, who were working in a house in the path of the slide.

Longtin doesn’t talk about whether or not he is lucky. He — and many other city workers and volunteers — are just too busy addressing the aftermath. But he brings an engineer’s perspective to the event — and how he survived it. Once the slide reached Kramer Avenue it was a mass of mud and interlocking trees — and it was slowing down.

“It was a solid, but it was acting like a liquid. It was flowing. Imagine mayonnaise. Maybe not quite that viscous. I was running as fast as I could downhill. It wasn’t nipping at our heels, but it wasn’t too far behind, either.”

The slide came to a halt about 100 feet above where it is now. Longtin says that there was no sign of William Stortz. He and Mahoskey went back up the slope to try and find Mahoskey’s truck, which had his two dogs inside. The slide pushed downhill twice more — about 50 feet each time. Then Longtin called 9-1-1 and began the work that he has been doing since.

Having been in harm’s way, this engineer is not too anxious about remaining there.

“You know there was a lot of potential energy up there before it released. But now it’s been released and I think it’s kind of reached an equilibrium more or less. I’m keeping my eye on it — don’t get me wrong — but I don’t feel that nervous being here.”

UPDATE: 11 PM, Wednesday, August 19, 2015. Searchers recovered the body of one of the slide victims this evening at about 7:15. Find more details here.

The early morning slide on Kramer Avenue, visible here in the center of the photo, destroyed one house and damaged another. (Rachel Waldholz, KCAW).

Three people are still missing after heavy rain triggered a series of landslides in Sitka Tuesday morning (8-18-15).

Governor Bill Walker plans to be in the city Wednesday to visit the affected areas.

Downloadable audio

On Tuesday evening, the city identified the missing people as Sitka Building Official William Stortz, age 62; Elmer Diaz, age 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.

The landslides have caused several road closures. Harbor Mountain Road has been closed above the first gate at the bottom of the hill. Sawmill Creek Road is closed past Silver Bay Seafoods. Near the Kramer Avenue landslide, the city has closed Sand Dollar Drive, Whale Watch Drive and Kramer Avenue itself.

Raven News will provide further updates as we get more information.