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| An American flag hangs from the only cedar post left standing at the scene of a deadly mudslide, Monday, March 31, 2014, in Oso, Wash. |
DARRINGTON, Wash.
(AP) -- Estimated financial losses from the deadly Washington
mudslide that has killed at least 24 people have reached $10 million,
Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday in a letter asking the federal government
for a major disaster declaration.
In seeking
additional federal help following one of the deadliest landslides in
U.S. history, Inslee said about 30 families need assistance with
housing, along with personal and household goods. The estimated losses
include nearly $7 million in structures and more than $3 million in
their contents, Inslee's letter said.
The
Snohomish County medical examiner's office said Monday afternoon that it
has received a total of 24 victims, and 17 of those have been
positively identified. Previously, the official death toll was 21, with
15 victims identified.
Authorities have said
more than two dozen people remain missing following the March 22 slide
that destroyed a rural mountainside community northeast of Seattle.
Inslee
is also seeking federal help with funeral expenses for up to 48 people,
and mental health care programs for survivors, volunteers, community
members and first responders.
Monday's request
asks for access to disaster housing, disaster grants, disaster-related
unemployment insurance, and crisis counseling programs for those in
Snohomish County and for the Stillaguamish, Sauk-Suiattle and Tulalip
Indian tribes.
Steve Harris, a division
supervisor for the search effort, said Monday that search teams have
been learning more about the force of the slide, helping them better
locate victims in a debris field that is 70 feet deep in places.
"There's a tremendous amount of force and energy behind this," Harris said of the slide.
Harris
said search dogs are the primary tool for finding victims, and
searchers are finding human remains four to six times per day. Sometimes
crews only find partial remains, which makes the identification process
harder.
Meanwhile, members of the Seattle
Seahawks football team and Seattle Sounders soccer team were scheduled
to visit with community members Monday evening.
