Big Mudslides Are No Surprise After Heavy Rain Experts Say Ground Saturated After 11 Inches Of Rain In Less Than Four Weeks

The spate of mudslides plaguing the Puget Sound area after recent heavy rain and snowfall may be more extensive than usual, but is no surprise to experts.

The deadliest of the slides occurred Sunday morning, when a slope gave way above a waterfront home on Bainbridge Island’s eastern side. The slide knocked most of the home into Puget Sound and buried the rest, killing high school science teacher Dwight Herren, 43, his wife, Jennifer, in her 30s, and their sons, Skyler, 2, and Cooper, 3 months.

Three homes adjacent to the slide remained tagged as too dangerous to inhabit Monday, Fire Chief Kirk Stickels said. Residents of the one home occupied year-round were escorted in to get personal effects, he said.

In a typical year, Stickels said, Bainbridge Island experiences “some very localized sloughs” of mud from soaked hillsides. But the Herren tragedy was the second time since New Year’s that slides have wrecked houses on the island. In the first incident, a slide knocked a home off its foundation on the southwest side of the island, he said.

And last May, a house 100 to 200 feet north of the Herren home was destroyed by a mudslide.

“We’re seeing more slide activity, but then, I think everyone is this year,” he said.

Since Jan. 1, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has recorded 4.6 inches of precipitation, compared with a normal amount of 3.39 inches. And that was on top of 6.41 inches that fell in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Some of the bigger slides have included:

A huge slide last Wednesday south of the Edmonds ferry terminal that pushed freight-train cars into Puget Sound.

A Jan. 2 slide that tore out support structures on Seattle’s Magnolia Bridge, which may be closed to vehicles until May or June.

On Jan. 1, about 40 homes on Perkins Lane West in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood were evacuated because of at least a half dozen slides.

On Dec. 31, a mudslide pushed an eight-unit apartment building in Redmond off its foundation.