Authorities recovered the body of an 11-year-old girl Saturday evening from the debris of a landslide in south-east Alaska that tore down a wooded mountainside days earlier, smashing into homes in a remote fishing village.
The girl, Kara Heller, was the fourth person confirmed killed by last Monday night’s landslide.
The girl’s parents Timothy Heller, 44 and Beth Heller, 36, and her sister Mara Heller, 16, were discovered and confirmed dead in the initial days after the landslide. Search crews are looking for a third child still missing from the Heller family, Derek, 12, and neighbor Otto Florschutz, 65, according to Tim DeSpain, a spokesperson for the Alaska department of public safety.
Florschutz’s wife survived the disaster.
Florschutz, a Republican who previously served on Wrangell’s port commission, was one of 48 candidates who entered the race to fill the congressional seat vacated when longtime US congressman Don Young died last year.
The landslide came down in the direct path of three homes near Wrangell, a fishing community of about 2,000 residents located on an island about 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Juneau.
DeSpain said Kara Heller was found under debris in the slide area. Authorities used trained dogs and an excavator to find and recover the remains.
Kara’s mother, Beth Heller, served on the Wrangell school board from 2019 to 2020 after several years on the district’s parent advisory committee.
The Hellers ran a construction company called Heller High Water, said Tyla Nelson, who described herself as Beth Heller’s best friend since high school. Beth and Timothy both grew up in Wrangell and married in August 2010, Nelson said.
Nelson sobbed as she described her friend as a “fantastic human”.
“And she was a wonderful mother,” she said. “She did everything for those babies.”
The slide – estimated to be 450ft (137 meters) wide – occurred during a significant rainfall and heavy winds. Wrangell received about 2in (5cm) of rain from early Monday until late evening, with wind gusts up to 60mph (96 km/h) at higher elevations, said Aaron Jacobs, a National Weather Service hydrologist and meteorologist in Juneau.
Photos showed the aftermath of the slide, which occurred during significant rainfall and heavy winds: a stark dirt path estimated to be 450ft wide running from the top of a nearby mountain down to the ocean in the middle of lush evergreen trees. The debris field covered the coastal highway before reaching the sea.
Troopers had initially said a large-scale search and rescue mission wasn’t possible because the site was unstable and hazardous. But a geologist from the state transportation department later cleared areas of the debris field for ground searches.
The landslide cut off about 54 homes from town. Roughly 35 to 45 people have chosen to stay in the area, said Mason Villarma, interim manager of the affected borough. Boats are being used to provide supplies including food, fuel, water and prescription medications.
Given the geography of the island – with the town at the northern point and houses along a 13-mile (21km) stretch of paved road – currently “the ocean is our only access to those residences”, Villarma said.
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Alaska landslide: girl, 11, confirmed as fourth victim with two still missing - The Guardian US
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