Memorial at site of deadliest landslide in US history opens on 10th anniversary

OSO, Wash. (AP) — The small community of Oso, Washington, has inaugurated a memorial honoring the 43 people who died at the site 10 years ago in the deadliest landslide in U.S. history. Hundreds gathered there Friday for a ceremony officially opening the memorial, a $3.8 million site dedicated to Oso, those who died, the survivors and the first responders. The trauma that engulfed the rural community of a couple hundred residents on March 22, 2014, was a national wake-up call about the dangers of landslides. Washington state began hiring more staff and conducting more mapping to get a better handle on the risk, and it tightened guidelines on logging landslide-prone slopes amid concerns that clearcutting near the top of the scar might have helped cause the disaster.